Second Semester Finals Schedule

Case High School has gone through many changes throughout this school year. They started the academies and there were new classes offered here, but the biggest change of all is the scheduling.

Case is now one of the many schools to be a part of block scheduling, and there was a lot to figure out this year. Both the staff and the students had a big adjustment to make. The staff had a big shift on their usual lesson plans they had for their classes.

Students had to change the way they balanced homework and athletics. Although the classes were days apart, the workload for each class was double.

The change that was felt the most by the student body was the finals schedule. In the past, finals would take place on half days, and a student would only have two finals in a day.

However, first semester finals for the 2016-2017 school year was very different. There were no longer half days during finals week. Student would take a final, go to a normal class, take another final, and go to their last class of the day. The student body was less than thrilled about this.

When half days were in place, going home after hours of testing was used as both a mental break and time to study. But having a relatively normal schedule did not allow that to happen.

Many students said they felt drained. That taking a test of such importance, and then going about their day, was just too much for them.

The students wanted a change for second semester. They did not get a say on the switching to block scheduling, but they were determined to let their voice be heard.

A group of students got together multiple times to discuss a plan. Despite the fact that they are young adults that value their education, it is hard for their points to be discussed and valued.

They had to decide how they were going to handle this particular situation. It took a lot of planning, but they had the head principal at Case on their side.

After a few weeks, they were ready to take this issue to the board and Racine Unified School District (RUSD). They voiced their issues, presented them with many options for a solution, and hoped that their thoughts would be respected.

Thanks to the group of students, there is a change in the second semester final schedule. Each day where final tests take place are early releases, and there will be two finals a day. There will no longer be classes in between the final tests.

This change takes a lot of pressure off of the students and allows for both a break and study time.

The students are grateful that the board at RUSD were willing to work with them and make finals week go as smoothly as possible.