Before the upcoming 2025-26 school year, Millburn Middle School (MMS) must revise its grading practices and access policies for accelerated courses to align with improvements already made at Millburn High School (MHS) and with peer institutions. This is essential to support students’ learning, reduce unnecessary stress, and create a consistent academic experience across the district.

While the Board of Education and MHS have acknowledged grading and access issues and made significant progress—including reducing grade cutoffs for AP access and implementing test retake opportunities—MMS continues to follow outdated and punitive practices that are negatively impacting students during a critical stage of development.

WHY?
The MMS grading and course access policies are inconsistent with the district’s evolving values and unfairly penalize students.

Millburn High School has already embraced more supportive grading practices: including a retesting policy where students can regain up to 50% of points lost on a test and reduced grade cutoffs for AP access. Most AP classes only require a B+ in a prerequisite Accelerated course, and qualifying exams have been eliminated. These changes were welcomed by students and parents alike.

Millburn Middle School, however, maintains punitive grading practices:

1. No retesting or test corrections are offered, even when assessments are poorly constructed or misaligned with classroom instruction.
2. Grade cutoffs for accelerated course access are excessively high—students must score a 93 or higher, despite district standards considering 90+ as “above proficient.”
3. Teachers are not required to share assessment averages, contributing to opacity and eroding trust.
4. Recently, an Accelerated Math test resulted in a class average of a C, with students reporting that the test was the hardest they’ve ever taken and had barely enough time to finish. 

These policies fuel a punitive academic culture and unnecessary student stress:

1. Students are discouraged from pursuing academic rigor due to fear of being penalized by a single grade.
2. The harsh grading system is especially damaging in middle school, where students are still developing study habits, resilience, and confidence.
3. This culture creates a psychological toll: anxiety, burnout, and disengagement from learning.
4. Multiple parents have observed that grading at MMS has become more punitive in recent years, even compared to prior cohorts. 

The lack of multiple access points to advanced coursework hurts equity and opportunity:

1. Students who may be strong candidates for future AP or advanced courses are filtered out too early due to rigid cutoffs.
2. The harsh grading at MMS blocks students from higher-level courses in high school, closing doors that may never reopen.
3. Current policies disproportionately benefit those who can afford private tutoring or alternate schooling options.

What can be done?
We propose three clear and immediate changes for Millburn Middle School:

1. Lower the cutoff for entry into Accelerated and Honors courses from 93 to 90, aligning with the district’s own standards of proficiency.
2. Introduce a structured retesting or test correction policy across all subjects to allow students the opportunity to learn from mistakes and regain partial credit.
3. Mandate that teachers share assessment averages with students and families, to foster transparency and accountability.

Additionally, until MMS adopts the same grading and access policies as MHS, students should be given multiple avenues to demonstrate readiness for advanced coursework—including waivers, teacher recommendations, standardized test scores, and demonstrated interest or aptitude.

What was accomplished at MHS can be accomplished at MMS.
Just last year, Millburn High School transformed its grading and access culture after widespread parent and student advocacy. The result? A more compassionate, fair, and effective academic environment. There is no reason why our middle school students—who are younger, more vulnerable, and still finding their academic voice—should be held to a harsher standard.

Let’s work together—parents, teachers, administrators, and students—to create a middle school experience that empowers rather than punishes, inspires rather than deflates, and supports every child’s right to learn, grow, and thrive.

Thank you for standing up for our students.