For the first time this year, BHS students will take midterms before winter break, from Dec. 21 to 23.

“We were going to have finals before winter break last year,” Assistant Principal Ryan Patti explained, “but the calendar committee decided to wait until this year to implement the change in order to give teachers time to plan for the adjustment.”

He gave multiple reasons for switching exams to before winter break.

Nearly every other school in the Greater Cleveland area, including those where many Beachwood students attend EXCEL TECC classes, have finals before winter break, Patti explained. As a result, the change in the academic calendar is intended to better align with the EXCEL TECC schools’ calendars.

Patti also argued that moving finals to December will give students less stress during winter break.

“Students want to spend their winter breaks relaxing rather than worrying about exams,” Patti said.

Students tended to agree.

“I used to be stressed out about having to study over winter break for finals, but now I can [spend it] vacationing and relaxing,” senior Asaf Roth said.

Sophomore Abbey Brewer was excited to learn that finals will be moved to before winter break.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “[It will truly be] a break.”

Sophomore Daniel Mishins, who spends a considerable amount of time during winter break studying, gave his point of view.

“There are both advantages and disadvantages,” he said. “[The change] gives students less time to study, but it also allows students to do other things [than study] over winter break.”

Patti also explained that during the two weeks away from class, students are likely to forget content taught first semester, forcing teachers to spend more time reviewing when students return.

“I tend to forget things quickly over break,” Roth confirmed.

Brewer agreed.

“It’s better for the content to be fresh in your mind.”

Due to the semester exam schedule change, the number of days before the first exam has shortened by four full days. Last year, there were 87 days in the academic calendar before the day of the first midterm. This year, just 83.

Without the extra time to prepare for finals, will the time pressure during the month of December actually cause students and teachers more stress? Patti doesn’t think so.

“It’s [almost] the same number of days,” Patti said. “Teachers shouldn’t have to change their curriculum.”

However, social studies teacher Pam Ogilvy, who teaches semester long AP Economics courses, has worries about midterms being moved earlier.

“For teachers of semester classes it just adds more pressure to get the content in quicker,” she said. “And as we are trying to improve AP student enrollment, it’s harder to move faster with more students.”

Traditionally, academic terms have ended on the third and final day that exams are given. This year, that has changed. Even though exams will take place in late December, the official end to the first semester is not until Jan. 12, four days after school resumes.

The extra four days is to maintain the Ohio law-mandated required number of instructional hours per semester, which must remain, according to Patti, regardless of when final exams take place.

The big question will be what teachers will do with their students during those four days.

“It’s up to each teacher [how to spend those extra days],”  Patti said.

He gave options ranging from giving fun science demonstrations to reviewing for the AP test to starting second semester coursework.

For semester-long courses like AP Economics or Human Rights, there may be fewer options for how teachers can entertain students for four more days after they have already taken their final exam.

“If I’m supposed to give my final before winter break, then what are semester teachers supposed to do when we get back?” Ogilvy questioned. “Are we just biding our time until we get the new set of kids in? We are going to have to think pretty creatively about what we will do for that last week [before the end of the semester].”

Teachers of year-long courses, like AP Physics teacher Mr. Michael Lerner, may not have to adjust as much to the shift in the academic calendar.

“I’m going to start second semester curriculum [once school resumes],” Lerner said. “Since both my classes are a year long, [the calendar change is] not a big deal. My class is like a scroll. You get through as much as you can.”