The month of May is full of AP and MCAP exams and the schedule has gone through rounds of changes to accommodate those exams.
There will be testing from May 6 to May 24 and during that time there will be no bells. The first exam for the day will be from 7:45 – 11:35 a.m..
The week of May 6 school, for those not taking an exam, will start at 11:35 a.m.. On Monday there are periods lunch through fourth, then on Tuesday there will be lunch, advisory and periods six through eight. Students can view the exam schedules here.
The AP Lang exam was moved to May 23 because the exam was originally supposed to be taken on May 14. Because that day is an election day and schools are closed, the test had to get pushed to the make-up date and will now be on paper. There are still modifications being made for the schedule of May 23.
Students taking AP exams will be excused from all their classes for the day. On May 10, there will be a wellness day in the afternoon while exams are going on. There will be no school on May 14 due to elections.
Students are to arrive at school no later than 7:30 a.m. for morning exams and no later than 11:30 a.m. for afternoon tests.
AP Psychology teacher Jennifer Bauer said she likes that she gets to see her students at least once the week of the AP Psychology exam on May 9. She also said that students will be less stressed taking the exam at school than at a different location. “I have the morning to work and get ready for AP review,” Bauer said.
In past years, the AP exams were at Shady Grove. This is the first year that all AP exams will be taken on campus. One of the main reasons AP exams are no longer being held at Shady Grove is because there were issues with students having to pay for parking.
Students say they like the new schedule because they are able to miss less school while taking their exams because instead of missing a whole day of school they are only missing a half day. It also gives students time to sleep and be more rested before classes because of the later start. “It is going to provide us with time to balance exams and classes,” junior Eva Veizis said.
Other students agree, “I think it’s great. It allows us to have extra time to sleep in and get rest before AP exams,” junior Jenna Goldberg said.
Teachers think that the schedule is beneficial to students. “It helps students not have to miss all those classes,” honors and AP chemistry teacher Aileen Ruderman said.
However, students also say they don’t like the schedule. “I think it takes too much time away,” senior Elena Filbert said.
Starting this year, MCAP testing will account for 20% of a student’s grade for certain honors and on level classes such as biology, English 10 and government. The MCAT will be given at the same time as the morning AP exams. If you have an MCAT and AP exam at the same time, then you should go to your AP exam and make up the MCAT another time.
