Students in Ms. Sheri King's class work through the day's agenda. While exams are months away, students need to keep in mind that the schedule looks different this year.
Exam week for students and teachers at Watauga High School is January 9th - January 13th. This is the first time exams have intentionally been scheduled after winter break rather than before.
There are reasons for this change. Not only was it scheduled this way due to the late start to the school year, but it was also done so semesters can have an equal amount of days and learning instruction. Dr. Rachel Shepherd, Assistant Principal, helped to create this schedule and provided more background on the situation.
“When we looked at it this year, knowing that school was going to start on August 22, we made the decision to try to make sure the semesters are balanced," said Shepherd. "They are almost 90 days exactly."
With the more balanced semesters, students can now get all the information they need for their exams. Teachers even appreciate this schedule.
“This will make our semesters feel more 'equal' as far as time with each group of students,” said Emily Grogan, WHS English teacher. “I think having exams after winter break will also give students (and staff) time to rest and relax over the days off, and we will come back to school with low stress and be ready to tackle these exams!”
Other teachers cited the balanced semesters as a positive for the change in schedule.
“It actually balances the days out for each semester to where they are more even as far as the number of days goes,” said Jerry Moretz, WHS math teacher. “I feel, as of this very moment, that it will be a little easier. I can tweak the plans I have for this semester and fit them to next semester. I hardly ever use the same lesson plans anyway.”
While holding exams after winter break allows for balanced semesters, students still have their worries. A major concern from the student body is for grades and passing rates dropping rapidly due to a two-week break between instruction.
“I feel like EOC scheduling will make my grades drop greatly due to the break, where school is not on my mind whatsoever,” claims junior Cloey Hadley. “I understand why they moved it, but I feel like with that move they may see a major decline in students' success within their final exams.”
Other students also express worry that the break from school might interfere with their focus.
“I like them like last year, before winter break, because you have the time to study when you're in school, not when you're on break just because you don't want to study on break, '' said sophomore Caleb Clark. “It probably will be a lot worse because I'm not going to study on break, and I don't think a lot of people want to study on break."
Despite student worries, exams have often been after the break in Christmas due to inclement weather, and Dr. Shepherd isn't worried about students' grades being impacted.
“We have not historically seen that," said Shepherd in response to the students' worries. “So I think we are going to be okay, we purposely built in that week of review time.”
With this added week of review time, there are still worries about parents pulling their kids out of school during the week before break. This is also something Dr. Shepherd feels like Watauga can manage well.
“I don't think we are going to see tons of parents pulling their kids out before Christmas," said Shepherd. "I don't think it's going to be any worse or any more excessive than it was before."
Still, parents planning vacations should remember that time out of school puts students at a disadvantage.
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