Townsend Harris High School has instituted a newly revised finals schedule for the 2016-2017 school year.

The new schedule will feature both in-class finals during the week of January 17 to January 23 and separate uniform finals during the week of January 24 to January 27. This is a combination of all in-class finals in the 2014-2015 school year and all separate uniform finals in the 2015-2016 school year.

The schedule was revised based upon feedback from the consultative council to the principal and assistant principals. Assistant Principal of Organization, Health, and Physical Education Ellen Fee recapped some of the problems from last year’s finals, stating, “It seemed there were too many exams and not all were uniform.”

A notable difference in this year’s schedule is that math and science finals are almost twice as long as those of other classes; they are seventy-five minutes long. Ms. Fee explained that this is meant to better “simulate a three hour regents exam and give better questions that take time to work out.”

Student reactions to the new schedule were mixed. Junior Zayyan Alamgir stated that the schedule from last year was “the best approach because the system made [more] sense.” He observed that this year’s schedule seemed more like “an experiment of some sort.”

Senior Brittney Singramdoo, however, preferred this schedule over last year’s, saying, “This year’s schedule is definitely the best one that we’ve ever had.” She reasoned that having only in-class finals or only uniform separate finals was “highly ineffective because having two finals each day just caused stress.” She added, “[They] forced students to have to split ourselves between studying for two finals.” She thought that the new schedule was a “perfect balance.”

Sophomore Arbid Yusuf agreed, saying he preferred this year’s schedule to last year’s “because the finals are being administered throughout two weeks instead of one, which gives [them] more time to study.”

Ms. Fee concluded that the administration strived to “improve the students’ experience of taking end term exams in January” and that it was “a collaborative effort of the assistant principals and the principal.”

The finals schedule can be found on the school website.