The Black and White

by Bridget Pouliot

The students and staff of Pilgrim High School started the year off with a bang. From welcoming in the freshmen to the building to displaying pride for the school, the first quarter has been wildly successful. “It was a great start to the year,” Mr. Gibbons described. “The senior and junior classes did an amazing job welcoming the class of 2028, and they were great examples to show our ninth graders what it is like to be a high school student.”

Mr. Gibbon’s favorite parts of the quarter were spirit week and the pep rally, due to the high levels of engagement and pride shown for the school. According to him, open house was another noteworthy event, as it was “the best open house we’ve had in years.”

There were many other successes the administrators noticed during the return to school routines. One of these successes was the adjustment to Smartpass and the change in cellphone policies. When asked about how the student body and staff adapted to these policies, Mr. Gibbons explained that everyone went with it and saw that it worked. “That’s the key to the academic success in our school,” he said.

While there have been many successes already during the school year, Mr. Gibbons noted some struggles that have continued to come up. “We started off the year well in terms of tardiness, but we have begun to drift back to later and later arrivals,” he detailed. “Being on time is extremely important.” At the end of the 2023-2024 school year, new attendance policies were implemented in terms of being consistently tardy and for students not in class when they were supposed to be. Some of these issues have been resolved in the introduction of Smartpass. However, continual tardiness has been an issue which has started becoming more common again. Mr. Gibbons explained he and the other administrators are urging students to be on time, as missing class can be detrimental to students’ learning.

Mr. Gibbon’s message for students as second quarter starts is “utilize what’s available to you; department night, asking for extra help, for support. You just need to ask,” he stressed, “and you will be shocked at how far the teachers will go to make sure you [and other students] find success.”