Administration cancels final exams, aims to reduce stress

Charlotte Armstrong ’21, Staff Writer

April 16, 2020

Final exams for the 2019-20 school year have been cancelled, Principal Stafford Thomas announced in an email on April 15.  “Due to the challenging and uncertain times we are all currently facing, our leadership continues to look at ways to reduce the stress associated with COVID-19’s impact ...

Midterm review period holds a permanent spot on exam schedule

Evi Tarshis '20, Staff Writer

February 6, 2019

The newly instated review period will continue to be scheduled for years to follow due to an abundance of positive feedback from Staples students and teachers.

Students opinions on new exam schedule for 2019

Caroline Donohue '20 and Emily Stone '20

January 9, 2019

Implementing final projects instead of exams will decrease stress levels

June 12, 2018

By Chelsea Fox '19 The end of the year is always a stressful time for students and teachers. With summer only a couple weeks away, I feel like I am always being ambushed with work in the days leading up to finals. However, when teachers opt to give us projects instead of exams, it relieves a large a...

Midterms may become even more stressful

December 11, 2017

By Lauren Wasserman '19 Midterms: what a time. From the second they start, students download countdown apps, constantly waiting for these dreadful tests to end. In past years, students had two tests per day for four straight days and 50 minutes in between each test. The perfect amount of time for...

Argument Erupts Among Seniors Over Requirement of AP Testing

Erin Lynch and Sasha Narang

May 24, 2016

It’s that time of the year - seniors have left the Staples High School halls after finishing the stressful testing that fourth quarter brings. What was the cause of it? AP tests. AP testing has taken a toll on the social lives of students, as they have traded their Friday night hangouts for textbooks...

Midterm exam break proven to be myth

Renee Weisz, A&E Editor

December 23, 2015

Although in the past two years midterm exams have been followed by a five-day break from school, this year’s exams do not follow this same pattern. The week begins with a regular school day on Monday, Jan. 11. Three days of exams follow from Jan. 12-14. Then, a staff development day takes place ...

Tips and tricks of the final midterm stretch

Emma Berry, Opinions Editor

January 13, 2015

It’s 8:50 p.m., the Westport Library is making the tenth announcement in the hour that the library will be closing at 9. The floor around my chair is littered with flashcards I have given up on and empty Red Bull cans. The first two days of midterm exams have come and gone and it seems as though...

Come May, AP students are crunched for time

Daniela Karpenos, Web News Editor

May 30, 2014

It was the week of AP final exams. Tension ran high. Blood pressures spiked. Confidence levels dwindled. Pressure was on. It is easy to feel unprepared when finals roll around—they have a not-so-funny way of creeping up on students. In contrast to the high schools of neighboring towns,...

Forensics students must come to school on make-up day

Justine Seligson, Staff Writer

January 20, 2014

Students are greatly anticipating the break before and during Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the week before are reserved for multiple, exhausting exams. With make-up day seen as another day off, in addition to an already long weekend, it seems like the light at the e...

Snow Day on Wednesday Means Exams Would Be Pushed Back

January 10, 2011

Early predictions of a snow day on Wednesday, Jan. 12 have caused the school's administration to develop a contingency plan for the upcoming midterm exams. "I sent out an email about three weeks ago saying that if we lose a day of school before exams, we'd just eat the day," Principal John Dodig said. ...

Stress Relief Between Exams

January 15, 2010

One small corner in a very large school was the setting for a class party after the semester exam was completed. Exam schedules pack two big tests into one day, but the half hour break, unheard of in a normal schedule, is a luxury that some students take advantage of. With juice boxes, cookies, and even a full-sized cake, these test takers let off steam on the sec...