The Impact of Skipping Grades
When Odysseus Pyrinis, junior, skipped kindergarten and entered first grade, he had a lot of work to make up. “First grade was the first time I ever experienced pulling something close to two, three in the morning studying,” he said. Pyrinis, like multiple other students on campus, is one of the few student who have advanced in their schooling, skipping one or even multiple grades in their academic careers.
The academic achievements of Pyrinis, who is now 14, did not stop after skipping kindergarten. “The second grade I skipped was from third to fourth. That one was a little easier in transition,” he said.
15-year-old Andy Reddy, junior, also has experience moving up a grade. “I skipped first grade partially because my mom thought I was bored in the class. I didn’t really care if I skipped or not, but the teacher had nothing to give me so they pushed me up,” said Reddy.
Juniors Andy Reddy (left) and Odysseus Pyrinis (right) have both skipped grades, making them younger than most of their classmates.
When transitioning up a grade, Pyrinis had to face new academic objectives. “Yes it was challenging, mostly because of the amount of work I had (to make up) in such as small period of time” he said.
For Reddy, being younger does not affect his ability to succeed academically in high school. “It’s about the same work you have to do, just at a younger year,” he said.
Both Reddy and Pyrinis agree that their ages have not made it hard to fit in socially. “I actually have quite a few people who know me, and they never held it against me that I was younger than them,” Pyrinis said.
“They (students) kind of just care whether you are a good kid or not, a good friend, if you like to hang out with them, if you are a likable person, then they will accept you,” Reddy said.
However, school counselor José Ireta explained that he has encountered some students who have struggled to fit in.
“It is a little difficult because of the size of students and maturity level…say for example they may be sophomores or juniors and all their peers are driving already and they are not, it makes it difficult,” Ireta said, “(Normally aged students) are not sure how to relate to (younger students) because their peer groups are different outside the school.”
In particular Mr. Ireta mentioned a 12-year-old freshmen he once had under him. “(He) did well in his classes, but unfortunately I don’t think everyone was really embracing (him)” he said.
One particular problem emerged when students would see someone so much younger than them do so well academically. “Some (normal aged) students may feel intimidated” said Mr. Ireta.
However, out of about six students who have skipped grades of whom Ireta has been a counselor, only one or two have really faced these problems.
Reddy emphasized that if a person is going to succeed skipping a grade, what really matters is how the person behaves. “It depends on your maturity level … as long as you are mature enough, you are fine,” he said.
