After Jupiter Ed’s 10+ year reign at Charter, FOCUS has arrived to dethrone the time-honored platform. 

   Jupiter was Gavin Poore’s go-to platform. “Whether it was checking my grades or viewing new assignments,” the sophomore said, “I always used Jupiter. Visiting a new place to see these things is strange to me.” 

   Even so, Gavin believes FOCUS hosts a considerable amount of advantages to Jupiter. “I think FOCUS is more suited for students than Jupiter,” he said. “Mostly everything relating to school is right there.” “I especially enjoy the ‘news’ and ‘planner’ tabs (press the home icon labeled ‘portal’) because they allow me to easily see and keep track of all my work.” He isn’t wrong. 

   FOCUS combines student information from both Jupiter and its popular counterpart Virtual Counselor. In addition to your usual quarter grades, attendance, and schedule, FOCUS covers information about graduation requirements, standardized testing history, and student discipline more extensively. These items were once specific to Virtual Counselor only. 

   Senior Jayna Brunner acknowledges these differences. “FOCUS gives us access to far more tools than Jupiter does, from better customization to an ameliorated school calendar.” She admits, however, that it will take time to adjust. But perhaps, time is what Charter currently needs. 

   This is because throughout the first and second week of school, students had technical issues with FOCUS. For some, their schedules and grades didn’t appear, and for others, school-wide test scores were not documented. Still, Brunner remains optimistic. “It will definitely take some getting used to, but I think FOCUS will prove more beneficial to students in the long run.” 

   Sarah Schnell, a sophomore, does not reciprocate these sentiments. “We have been using Jupiter Ed for so long that you just get accustomed to checking that. Now, we have an entirely new platform to adapt to.” FOCUS’s introduction was rather swift, but teachers and students are already appreciating the beauty of utilizing just one program for everyone’s needs. 

   By the looks of it, FOCUS is here to stay. Future technical problems will inevitably arise, but Jaguars being Jaguars, we will adapt. 

   Now entering the second month of school during this challenging era, this has proven to be true.