To the editor:

Having good grades in ninth grade can either make you or break you as a student.

I had good grades my ninth-grade year, so I set the bar very high for myself to be successful. Since I did well my first year of high school, I knew the following years would not be so bad.

I did not attend Suffolk public schools, but in Smithfield they did something similar to the SOL Academy. A student who had failed his or her Standards of Learning tests was given a certain number of tutoring hours to complete before he or she could retake the SOLs. The subject and the score on the test would determine how many tutoring hours the student needed to receive.

Students who completed all the tutoring hours were able to take a similar test to the SOL they had failed before.

The SOL Academy in Suffolk also gives students who just missed the bar a chance to get to where they need to be. It also helps students graduate on time and with their prospective class.

I would not want to have to stay in high school an extra year because of an SOL test.

Teachers put a lot of time and effort into programs like this so their students can be successful and prove that high school educators do a lot more than what is expected of them.

This is why I chose to major in education in college. I want to help shape and model the future doctors, lawyers and educators.

Jacqueline Cypress

Smithfield