Madison High Student: 'You're Forgetting Us. We're the Middlemen'

In an open letter to the principal of Madison High School in Vienna, an anonymous writer opines that stress is overtaking the student population, there's too much focus on overachievers and changes need to be made.

Published Sunday on The Hawk Talk Web site, the news site for the school newspaper, the letter was addressed to Madison High School principal Mark Merrell. Patch has a query in to the Fairfax County Public Schools' Public Information office and will update the story with any reaction from Merrell.

Some of the points made by the letter-writer include the stress from students not getting enough sleep (the first bell rings at 7:20 a.m.), of being pressured to take AP classes and getting a 4.0 grade point average or higher.

"But why are we preparing everyone to be doctors and lawyers and writers for science magazines? What about the kids in the middle?" the anonymous writer said in the letter.

"The administration has the students in nice, neat boxes. But you’re forgetting us, Mr. Merrell. We’re the Middlemen. We are all of the cliques and none of the cliques. We know everyone and no one knows us. We are stuck in the middle of everything, and there are more of us than anyone else. But you don’t see us."

The letter generated about 50 comments on the school newspaper Web site Sunday after it was published.

FCPS invites all to share their ideas with new Superintendent Karen Garza here: Making Fairfax County Schools the Best They Can Be 

Find more information on discussion of later start times here at Smart School Start.

Also read: Board to Revisit Later School Start Times

What do you think? Do you think changes should be made at your high school, and if so, what changes, and how would they be made?