The administration will increase the frequency of progress reports for the 2012-2013 academic year, planning to send letters home to parents and students with “live” grades every four weeks, according to Palo Alto High School Principal Phil Winston.

This move is in effort to increase communication between students, parents and Paly staff, Winston said.

“We will report grades every four weeks, which improves on what we’re doing right now. If you’re not doing well, we send home a little reminder,” Winston said. “Every student is going to get a formal progress report on their grades, [which] will be live.”

Currently, the administration sends quarter grades home for each student approximately every nine weeks and is required to send warning notices halfway through each quarter for students with C minuses or lower. Next year, each student will receive their updated grades every four weeks.

The administration hopes that this will allow for better communication between teachers, parents and students, according to Winston. This change should also benefit athletes who are unable to compete because the are not academically elligible, as the turnaround time between official grade reports will decrease. Athletes would be able to return without waiting for the quarter to end.

“The school is interested in continuing growth,” Winston said. “We see this as a wonderful opportunity to communicate and reach out to students and parents.”

It is likely the change will require teachers to alter the way they record and report grades, as they will need to produce official reports every four weeks. Winston applauded the staff for being willing to make changes that benefit the students and the school as a whole.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some [difficulties with the change], and it shows you how wonderful a school this is when people are willing to try some things that benefits students,” Winston said.