Final exams will look different this year. The end of the semester tests, finals, and projects are going to be different for each department.

Each class does not have to give a final exam. The last days of the semester will be on the 16th and 17th of December. Students only have to take finals if the teacher decides that is what the class is doing. Teachers can have students do a 10 question assignment, or a speech, or even a meeting with them. It is totally up to the teacher and the department.

“There is no requirement that teachers have to have a final exam,” said Dr. Tracey Landry, associate superintendent for teaching, learning, and innovation.

Students will be released from school at 12:30 p.m. on those days. This is due to significantly shorter periods because not everyone will be doing a pen and paper final.

“Classes will be around one hour long and kids will be dismissed at 12:30,” Landry said.

Due to the fact not everyone will be having finals, they have changed the name from “Finals Days” to “End of Semester Days.” This represents a new way for the semester to end. It will conclude with end of semester days, not finals days.

“We are not ending the semester with final exam days, we are ending with what we call end of semester days,” Landry said.

Students are still allowed to leave the school if they are permitted to for their Knights Block or lunch period. The day will look very similar to a normal day.

“If you have off campus privileges during that Knights Block, it would operate in the same realm. You do need to be here for attendance if your parents have not excused you,” said Dr. Jeff Schagrin, associate principal for curriculum and instruction.

There should be an email going out soon about how finals will be and what will be happening.

“In most classes, finals will be worth 10 percent. There is a little bit of flexibility there, but teachers across the district felt that 20 percent for a single assessment was not the right way to measure student understanding and student learning.

“It should be something that is measured over the course of time,” Landry said.

The percentage of grades will be decided by each department. Dr. Schagrin wants everyone to be able to go from one class to the same class with a different teacher and be able to feel like things are graded the same way.

“You can’t sit in one U.S. History class and then go to another U.S. History class and have totally different grading,” Schagrin said.