Principal Jeff Legan has decided to make final exams optional for seniors, as long as they have a passing grade in the third and fourth quarters. Exams will be taken today and Tuesday according to this schedule.

According to Michael Coury, the Associate Principal for Curriculum and Instruction, school administrators decided this policy because they don’t want to overwhelm students. He said, “With the eight class period, that has come through with more stress and responsibility for students to handle, [and] the same goes for staff. We want to reduce the stress load on the fourth quarter but still make [the fourth quarter] meaningful to seniors.”

Coury doesn’t expect most seniors to take final exams unless they need to improve their semester grades. Coury said, “Students might take advantage of the option exam especially when school is almost over. [But to those who are taking the exam, it would] either affect students’ grades negatively or positively.”

Class of 2023 counselor Mia Bourdakos likes the optional final exam policy this year.  She said, “I think it’s very fair that seniors get to make the choice whether to take it or not since they are at that stage where they can make their own choices. However, some students might need to take it to pass the class, but other than that most of them don’t need to.”

Some seniors, according to Coury, may benefit from taking the final exam. He said, “If seniors want to improve their final exam, that’s great but if they do poorly on the exam, it’s not going to hurt them…On the other hand, [seniors] might need to take it because they need to pass the class. Certainly, it’s important [depending on the] circumstances.’’

Senior Veronica Mui feels relaxed knowing she has the option to take the exam. She said, “I feel like not having to take a final exam is less stressful. This [gives] me [more time to] prepare for my graduation [in June].”

For seniors who are planning to take exams, Bourdakos hopes seniors have taken the time to prepare. She said, “I would definitely have a conversation with the teacher because I would imagine there’s probably not that many people taking the finals [to get the information they need].”

Coury thinks these seniors taking exams will have a good atmosphere to work in. He said, “Seniors can work bravely through those exams since normally when the exam happens, normal class schedules are ongoing, where there is a quiet building. [They take the] exam and they just go home. It has a different atmosphere for senior finals.’’

Coury hopes seniors have a meaningful experience before leaving high school. He said, “Rather than having seniors focus on just preparing for the exam and stressing them out, [making the exams optional] will hopefully improve last high school experiences for them. However, If seniors do decide to take the exam, there are still valuable experiences that are good for learning. I hope students will have a positive last semester of their high school careers.”