Seniors have completed SATs and sent out their colleges applications. They’ve conquered the majority of high school and often sacrificed their sleep. All done, right? Time to relax? Staff members such as assistant principal Brian Safine say that moderation is key when dealing with senioritis. 

“It’s natural for seniors who finish December and their college applications to take a deep breath, maybe relax a little bit, feel like they’ve got most of the hard work done in high school,” Safine said. “But the key for them to remember is that it’s ‘most’ but not ‘all’ of the hard work that’s been done.”

Still, some teachers have noticed a change in second semester seniors. 

“They tend to show up more tardy to my class and they tend to be more lackadaisical about turning stuff in, especially  after they get accepted,” Astronomy and Marine Biology teacher Jill McCrystal said.

McCrystal considers her Marine Biology class to be relatively laid back, so she isn’t surprised that seniors start to get a little lazy second semester.

“[Seniors] buckle down for the tests and they’re lazy on the rest of the stuff,” McCrystal said. “But I’ve only had a student once or twice who ended up failing. It’s pretty hard to fail Marine Biology.”

English teacher Erick Rector agrees that most seniors still try to do well in their classes.

“I think the seniors understand that you need to maintain a certain level of academic performance,” Rector said.

While, Safine feels that seniors should be allowed to relax, he believes that they still need to be aware that their acceptance is conditional. 

“Every year, somewhere between one and three senior students have their admission offer rescinded, mostly due to them failing to send in certain paperwork or having a grade that drops dramatically,” Safine said.  “So it’s really important for seniors to finish strongly.”