**Also by Lucy Chen**

In a competitive community where academics seem to be everything, students now have yet another way to get ahead.

Pyle Middle School added an eighth grade English course this year that counts for one high school general elective credit. The course replaces Honors English 8, making Advanced English 8 the only option besides on-level English for eighth graders.

All but three of the 37 middle schools in the county offer Advanced English 8 this year. The class started as a pilot program last year in 19 schools.

Unlike Honors English 8, the Advanced English curriculum explores the life of novels’ authors and reveals the historical relevance of the novels’ background and setting, connecting English to the eighth grade U.S. History curriculum.

Students seem more motivated to complete assignments in the new course, Pyle English department head Celia Harper said.

“The material we’re learning and the essays we’re writing are much more interesting than other classes I’ve taken,” eighth grader Alexandra Payne said. “We’re expected to learn, read, and write more quickly than the other classes, but it’s not too bad.”

Although the grading requirements haven’t changed, the essay questions are more in-depth, said Wanda O’Brien-Trefil, Advanced English 8 teacher at Pyle. Teachers have to move quickly through lessons because of all the material they need to cover.

Students need 2.5 elective credits to graduate from high school, unless they participate in a four-year technology program. Although this class is one elective credit and not an English credit, Advanced English 8 will still count towards students’ high school GPAs.

MCPS plans to add more high school elective credit courses in middle school, Pyle principal Jennifer Webster said, noting that receiving high school credit for challenging middle school classes rewards students for meeting higher standards.

“It acknowledges the amount of work that they’re doing,” she said. “It’s like when high school students take AP courses, they’re opting to go to the next level with the amount of work they accomplish.”

The Advanced English 8 grade will impact students’ high school GPAs, increasing pressure on students earlier, said Whitman counselor William Kapner.

“MCPS, on its website, says that college planning begins in kindergarten, and I think it’s ridiculous,” he said. “I don’t believe middle school and elementary school students need to be that focused on college. I don’t think it’s healthy for students.”

Pyle held multiple information meetings last year to prepare parents for their children’s heavier eighth grade English workload. Most complaints about the new policy come from parents who want their child to have as strong a GPA as possible, Harper said.

“I think it’s terrible,” Pyle parent Christy Keteltas said. “Middle school students aren’t mature enough to experience high school classes in middle school. They don’t understand the impact that the English grade may have on the rest of their high school career. It’s putting them in a bad position.”

Teachers emphasize the fact that the grade only shows up on transcripts and counts as a high school credit if students earn an A or a B. So far, most students have been meeting the standard and earning high grades, O’Brien-Trefil said.

“If you get a C and you don’t get high school credit, so what?” she said. “You’re still gaining exposure to everything that’s going on in the class.”

Despite the negative feedback from some parents and students, teachers remain confident that eighth graders will succeed in the class.

“When we make courses more rigorous, it seems to have a positive effect,” Harper said. “Students take these courses in stride, and when we raise the bar a little bit, they’re more then capable of meeting it.”