Staring blankly at the computer screen, unsure of what to do, many Sea Kings are befuddled by this new program; all are thinking the same questions:  “Why the switch to Aeries? What was wrong with Edline?”
An accurate analogy, by Palos Verdes High School English teacher, Mr. Larkins describes it as “a streamline system, kind of like shopping at Walmart.  You can find anything there, but it is not necessarily the best quality product.  You really do not know what the heck is going on sometimes, so it is a little chaotic.”
Chaotic is just one way of describing it, with some more common phrases to describe this new platform as “useless”, a “hassle”, and “inconvenient”.
Surprisingly, the majority of the teachers, when asked, bluntly stated that they did not know why there was a program switch over the summer.  Though the majority assumed it was a monetary issue, one source detailed that, “Nobody said a damn thing to [them] and that is what pisses [them] off the most.”
The hatred for this website grows viral- literally- with a popular Facebook page dedicated to this building inferno of displeasure.
An anonymous teacher fervently said, “I hate it.  I hate it.  I hate it.  I hate it, and it has made my job ten times worse.  I do not like using that platform. I will do everything I can to get rid of it and to return back to Edline.”
While many view this change as a disturbance and as an unnecessary evil, there are parents and students who do enjoy certain features of this program. Mrs. Yu said, “On the gradebook page, I like the fact that you can see all the classes and current grades.”
For the many people unsure of the reason behind the switch to Aeries, there is an explanation for this unfavorable change.
As Dr. Stephany good-naturedly explained, Aeries should be used “as a system that has everything in one: all the home/school communications, gradebook, demographic information, [etc].”
Stephany also explained that this switch was for economic purposes. Before the switch, there were “a lot of different systems, and we had to spend money to keep all those updated. Aeries.net, for the most part, satisfied all those different requirements for a lot less money.” Additionally, some “other factors of consideration [for the switch] included budget, staffing, support and additional reporting requirements”, which all lead to the subsequent switch from Edline to Aeries.
There are also some other students, such as sophomore Gabriel Feingold, who are rather indifferent about this website, believing that “it is easier to see grades on, but also worse, because teachers cannot post assignments on it.”
Though one would think the switch to Aeries would infuriate students, they seemed to have accepted the change.
An additional student, freshman Megan Fitzpatrick actually does not mind Aeries at all. She said, “At first, Aeries was really hard to navigate, but as soon as I got into it, I kind of figured it out.”
Living in the age of technology, students as a whole do not seem to mind using Aeries for grades and Edline for assignments. On the other hand, adults seem to be uncomfortable with the change, now having to adapt to a whole new system after many years of Edline.
But if all the glitches can be solved, allowing the benefits to show, there is not a doubt that Aeries can become a highly successful program, revolutionizing communications between schools, teachers, parents,and students, creating an efficient and worthwhile website to use.