When I think of the word "school," I immediately think mostly of anxiety and sleep. Those two ideas have circled around in my brain for the past semester of my ninth-grade year. It isn’t the school part that puts me at unease but it is the part in which I return home and have to cram all my homework...

Last year, Westford Academy joined a year-long program called Challenge Success, a program out of Stanford University focused on alleviating student stress and redefining what success is. Utilizing data from their Challenge Success survey conducted the year before, WA began to implement changes in line...

Beginning with the class of 2020, new graduation requirements were implemented for all students, consisting of a one half-year Fine/Performance Art class, two full years of a Foreign Language, and four half-year Physical Education classes without the ability to opt out. Other existing requirements include...

At the beginning of this school year, the administration at Westford Academy decided to try a new schedule to help reduce stress for the WA students. Though meant to help students feel more relaxed and prepared for their next classes, some thought it had no effect. The Challenge Success schedule...

As we get older, our definition of success changes, and so does our definition of failure. People hold themselves to different standards, and those standards change as we get older and face more challenges. When I started high school, I had one goal: to have a solid foundation for my GPA. I had some...

I cringe whenever faced with these three letters: GPA. I've pondered for the longest time for what it was about the term that made me uncomfortable, afraid even, and I came to the evident realization that I knew my father came to at my age: this is my first time where my own actions affect my life. GPA...

Recent years have brought about a heightened awareness surrounding eating disorders, which are psychological conditions characterized by abnormal eating habits. Though everyone has insecurities, imperfections, and aspects of their bodies they dislike, for some, these insecurities reach a new level, resulting...

When I write down all the tasks I have to do, looking at each of them individually makes them seem pretty manageable. When I write a to-do list, I always think I can accomplish the items there and more as long as I'm diligent. However, the second I sit down to actually work, I lose sight of that neat...

Amidst concerns raised by the Challenge Success program implemented in the Westford Public Schools system in recent years, Westford Public Schools made sweeping changes to the homework policy in grades K-12 at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. Westford Academy implemented a new homework...

In the classroom, many students are stressing over the multitude of tests they need to take and the piles of homework they receive from their classes. Yet, many fail to notice the stress  teachers undergo to grade tests and prepare the material presented in class daily. In 2015, all WA students took...

Superintendent Everett Olsen has proposed a later start time for all students in the district, with the intention of allowing high school and middle school students in particular to maintain a healthier sleep schedule. The proposal entails moving the start time from 7:35 to 8:00, which would change the...

Adolescence is a time of change. In this transient period between childhood and adulthood, the brain is shifting and evolving in complex ways we are only beginning to understand, affecting relationships between parts of the human body, social interactions, and critical thinking skills. In fact, recent...