Shorter first semester garners mixed responses

With the packed schedule drawing to a close and finals ominously looming closer, the campus has an atomosphere of rushed panic. Students and teachers are in the process of evaluating the school’s new calendar, which puts first-semester finals before winter break and also has imbalanced semesters.

The way it worked out, first semester is two weeks shorter than second semester. Students leave for winter break on Dec. 22 and return on Jan. 9.

The verdict is not in, but indications are that opinions are mixed.

This may create some extra challenges for students. For their part, seniors are now taking final exams in addition to finishing their college applications, which can easily become overwhelming.
However, senior Darisha Jhutty actually enjoys having finals before break.

“So far the new schedule seems fine,” Jhutty said. “I’ve been working on applications consistently while maintaining grades. I plan on submitting them early so I can actually enjoy a holiday break for once instead of stressing over finals like we used to.”

Junior Melodie Bellegarda acknowledges how the new schedule could be beneficial, but is still unsure and not a fan of the change.

“Having finals before break is very stressful because now we have even less time to study,”
Bellegarda said. “Everything is being crammed into these final weeks and some of my teachers are assigning ridiculous amounts of assignments because they want to fit a certain amount of material into first semester.”

This new schedule does not only affect students. Teachers are also required to change lesson plans in accordance to the new schedule.

English teacher Cathy Head feels more rushed, but thinks the change may be good for the school.

“I really like the idea of the school, students and staff, having a real break between semesters,” Head said. “I have concerns about the impact on semester classes, but I believe the break will be a healthy addition to our calendar.”

One of the semester classes at school is economics. When asked about the change in September, economics teacher Todd Dwyer said that his first semester students are the ones who suffer, missing out on crucial information that the shorter semester does not allow him to teach.

According to Dwyer, this fall he only has 46 contact days with students for a little less than 62 hours of instructional time. In the spring he gets 53 contact days for a total of 70.3 hours of instructional time.

There are almost nine more hours of instruction in the spring, which is equivalent to two full weeks of instruction plus a Monday, Dwyer said.

“The shortage of time forces me to ratchet up the speed of instruction in a class that was already being taught at an accelerated pace,” Dwyer said.

Now that the first semester is coming to a close, Dwyer is feeling the repercussions of change.

“At this juncture, I am none-too happy about the disparity of instructional time between the two semesters,” Dwyer said.

In attempt to show a different way the district’s calender could have been made, Dwyer said students in the Santa Clara Unified School District complete first semester finals before the winter break, but they begin classes in the middle of August, and their students finish first semester on Dec. 16, with finals taking place from Dec. 19-22. They return to school on Jan. 3.

“There are better calendars out there,” Dwyer said. “I suspect the calendar will be getting a makeover for the 2012-13 academic year.”

Along with changing the dates finals take place, the order in which finals are taken was altered. In the past, finals went in order of 7, 6, 4, 5, 3, 2, and 1st period. Now, they go from 1-7th period.

“The new schedule is more appropriate and logical for student learning,” assistant principal Brian Safine said. “Students will know when each final is.”

Some believe this is a reasonable change, but others don’t understand the reason behind this.

Senior Kenneth Leung sees no point in changing the finals schedule and has friends who are having a hard time due to the change.

“The new finals schedule hasn’t affected me that much because my schedule is spread out,” Leung said. “But I have a friend who has Calculus BC and AP Bio on the same day now.”

Others, like senior Arjay Parhar, find the new order less confusing.

“I never understood the old order,” Parhar said. “One time I ended up studying for the wrong pair of tests on Monday. Changing the schedule to something sensible is a really good idea.”