December brings two major events in every student’s life: Christmas and finals. And while the format of these tests remains the same, one small change affects this year’s schedule

Why the change

Principal Mr. Dave Worland said, “Every year I get a calendar and find (Dec. 25) and work my way back. This helps me figure out when it would be most appropriate to end the semester.”

Because Christmas falls on a Monday this year, meaning Christmas Eve is Sunday, Worland wanted to give students, teachers and their families enough time to prepare for the holidays, he said.

“If we did have to come into school (on Friday), that would leave one day for preparing. I know some families attend liturgy, some travel. (The change) was made to give them more time,” he said.

History of finals week

In terms of the school’s history, the setup of taking two finals a day for four days is relatively new. According to Worland, about 15 years ago students had three finals each day instead of two. The idea behind this schedule was that “students would not have a final in all three periods each day. Sometimes (there would be an instance when) students would have all three finals in a day. We determined that this felt like a lot,” he said.

After this system, the school again changed the format of finals week. Worland said, “Ten years ago, we had two finals a day, but after taking the finals, students would go to class for the rest of the day. This was a way for them to prepare for their upcoming finals by attending classes and possibly having more review or study opportunities.”

Ultimately, it was decided that there should be only two finals each day, with the afternoon left open for more studying or chances to ask for help in a specific subject.

While Worland serves as the final the authority on the finals schedule, he does not develop it himself. He said, there is a committee dedicated to planning the schedule for the year. The members of this committee finalize the schedule and share it with students, teachers and parents.

Open to suggestions

Though this year’s finals schedule is set, Worland would like to express his openness to ideas. He said, “We like to have input from everyone: teachers, parents and even students.” If students would like to share a suggestion for improving the finals schedule for upcoming years, Worland said he would be happy to hear from them.