Administration will allow students to be present during fall parent-teacher conferences for the second time on Monday and Tuesday.

Last spring, administration instituted the new policy, giving students the opportunity to attend the spring conferences. That policy has continued into the fall.

“I would like to empower students so they feel like they have control over what is going on in their lives and it is not just their parents,” academic dean Evan Barth said. “I think it is a great stepping stone for learning those skills in college because in college your parents won’t be there to talk with your professors.”

“I like having students there,” AP Computer Science teacher Susan King said. “Most of the kids are surprised to hear what positive things I have to say about their problem solving skills or their programming skills.”

Sophomore Peter Connors thinks that going to the conferences will be valuable.

“I think [going] will be helpful,” he said. “Then I can hear first hand what my teachers think of me.”
Other students do not plan on going because they believe that going to the meetings will not be worthwhile.

“I would want my teachers to say whatever without me being there,” Shekar Ramaswamy (11) said. “I feel like the teachers would be more honest.”

English Teacher Ohad Paran believes that the conference will clear up any misunderstandings that students may have previously had with teachers.

“You hear it directly,” Paran said. “Everyone is on the same page. There is no room for any sort of misinterpretation.”

Conference sign ups on the parent portal will close on Nov. 20.