As the end of the semester approaches, some teachers have already begun handing out final reviews and preparing their students for the final exams. This year, District Office has changed the calendar so finals are over a weekend rather than having them three days in a row.

District policy states first semester should not be ended later than Dec. 20, and the final week must contain at least two academic days.

Science teacher Nanet Sula said they split the finals once in the spring where students went Friday and came back after Memorial Day for two days; she said unless they had snow days, they have not split finals the first semester.

“I don’t think the splitting of the finals at this time of year is that big [of a] deal as compared to if it’s after memorial day in the spring,” Sula said. “I think that’s a bigger deal.”

Principal Amy Murphy said District Office sets the end of the semester date and then when that date is set, they look at the last three days of the semester and put those as the finals.

“I don’t think they look at when the finals are to say ‘we can’t set them here,’” Murphy said. “So they don’t know that we wanted them to go through [Dec. 21] which [is] what we would have to do to be able to have all three finals, three days in a row.”

In Blue Valley, finals take place the last three days of each semester. The last day of the semester is determined by how many snow days have occurred that year. When the last day has been set, district schedules finals.

Assistant Superintendent of Academic Services Tonya Merrigan said the board of education has a policy regarding the district calendar, and there are guidelines to go with the policy.

“We have to have a certain number of days throughout the year, and then from there we have the holidays off,” Merrigan said.

Second semester cannot begin before Jan. 3, and the same rules apply to the beginning of a semester as to the end – there must be at least two academic days in the first week.

In the past, final exams have been scheduled for three finals to take place on the first day and two per day on the remaining two days. Five years ago, however, BVNW changed the finals schedule so three finals were on the second day, thus providing students with optimal study time.

“Finals are pretty exhausting,” Murphy said. “I think [the split] gives people a chance to get through a day of finals and then because you’ve got two days, a chance to recharge your battery [or] go do something fun, and then still have some time to study.”

Sula said a positive with the decision to split finals is it will allow for students to have a longer period of time to study for their finals, but they may not take advantage of this time.

Murphy said with finals three days in a row, students do not have much time to do anything other than dedicate their time to studying. The split is an opportunity for students to take two of their finals, take a break, and finish the semester after the weekend.

Sula said she does not think the final splits will affect students grades, because if a student is going to study they will study regardless of having the split or not.

“[Many] students calculate what they need to get on their final and will just get that,” Sula said.  “If you have a solid A [and you] have another class that you have to spend more time on, then that gives you an opportunity to spend more time on a different class, and less time on the class where the final doesn’t make as big a difference.”

The last day a teacher can give a unit test over new material is Dec. 8. Teachers can still teach new material Dec. 9 through 15, but they cannot give a test over it. This year, they are allowing core classes – ELA, math, social studies and science – to have two part final exams.

“[Dec. 9], which is Friday, that’s English’s day,” Murphy said, “So, if English wants to give a first part of their final, that’s the day that it would happen in English and not any other day that week.”

Murphy said teachers tend to forget that students have seven classes because they’re only thinking about their own class, and the staff of BVNW is working to make sure students are not overwhelmed.

Sula said she does not think the sharing of information will happen over this weekend, because it will be hard to remember the questions.

“If you think somebody’s gonna take it Friday and then they’re gonna share the information, so this kid’s going to come in Monday with extra information from friend, I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Sula said. “Because as comprehensive as science finals are, there’s just so much information to be able to remember like that.”

Finals for hours one and two will take place on Dec. 16. After the weekend, finals for hours three, four and five will be on Dec. 19, and finals for hours six and seven will take place on Dec. 20.