Why are FCPS teachers giving finals and exams during AP week when school ends June 17

[Anonymous]

Just a vent....my junior is taking 6 AP exams and so therefore, is missing 6 days of school and yet finals, quizzes and tests seem to be happening in a bunch of classes RIGHT now and so there is also a huge scramble to try to take extra exams after school in addition to studying for all tests.

Why do all of these exams need to be right now when school ends June 17? I get that some kids are seniors and need to do them earlier but this is putting so much undue stress on the juniors and it is unnecessary.

For a school system that pretends to care so much about mental health, this is NOT a way to show that you care.

[Anonymous]

Why are you asking here instead of emailing the teachers? Oh I know - you just want to complain and aren’t actually looking for a solution.

[Anonymous]

Seniors have to take their finals early. The whole class is reviewing for them. It makes sense for juniors enrolled in the classes to utilize the same review time and take the tests then.

Students are already reviewing for the AP exam. If they are already reviewing everything, it is a logical time to take the final. After the AP exam will be projects and extensions that won't be tested on the final.

[Anonymous]

My kid had a big Algebra 2 unit test the same day as AP world test. Agree it's annoying, but I don't think the teachers can work around every AP test - there are so many and every kid in their class is taking different ones. I think part of taking AP classes is being ready to handle this sort of thing. College professors certainly don't coordinate with each other to make tests and papers due at different times.

[Anonymous]

It's not the teachers' fault, OP. It's the fault of this concept that seniors get to leave earlier; plus the fact that schools have never blocked off the first two weeks of May for the sake of College Board exams. They could, if they really wanted to. And seniors should get to leave school early. Other countries do things very differently, since most of them separate their high school classes by grade level, and hold national exams for 11th and 12th graders. In South Korea, for example, the whole country is at a standstill during exam time. In France, the year's essay questions are discussed on national TV and reporters go out in the street to pose them to adults of all ages, to see how they would do (hilarity ensues, of course).

America isn't a very academic place and doesn't hold intellect in such high esteem. It has the best graduate school outcomes in the world, because of the international brain drain it encourages, with its superior funding (which the current Trump admin has dampened somewhat).

[Anonymous]

Maybe your junior shouldn’t have taken 6 AP classes? That seems excessive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe your junior shouldn’t have taken 6 AP classes? That seems excessive.

This is actually a normal level of AP classes.

Non-academic vent: My 9th grader has been sitting in Yearbook class doing nothing for over a month with another month to go. Most of the class was seniors who have disappeared. Its a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a vent....my junior is taking 6 AP exams and so therefore, is missing 6 days of school and yet finals, quizzes and tests seem to be happening in a bunch of classes RIGHT now and so there is also a huge scramble to try to take extra exams after school in addition to studying for all tests.

Why do all of these exams need to be right now when school ends June 17? I get that some kids are seniors and need to do them earlier but this is putting so much undue stress on the juniors and it is unnecessary.

For a school system that pretends to care so much about mental health, this is NOT a way to show that you care.

Troll. AP exams don't take an entire day. Mine took AP Lit in the morning, then went to her two afternoon classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you asking here instead of emailing the teachers? Oh I know - you just want to complain and aren’t actually looking for a solution.

Actually, s/he wanted to boast about her kid taking 6 AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe your junior shouldn’t have taken 6 AP classes? That seems excessive.

This is actually a normal level of AP classes.

Normal for who? Not your average high schooler, that's for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a vent....my junior is taking 6 AP exams and so therefore, is missing 6 days of school and yet finals, quizzes and tests seem to be happening in a bunch of classes RIGHT now and so there is also a huge scramble to try to take extra exams after school in addition to studying for all tests.

Why do all of these exams need to be right now when school ends June 17? I get that some kids are seniors and need to do them earlier but this is putting so much undue stress on the juniors and it is unnecessary.

For a school system that pretends to care so much about mental health, this is NOT a way to show that you care.

Troll. AP exams don't take an entire day. Mine took AP Lit in the morning, then went to her two afternoon classes.

This is a good point. Many (all?) FCPS schools allow students to be signed out the whole day of an AP/IB exam (under the premise of "sleep" and "studying"), but it's 100% optional and students are welcome to go to their opposite half of the day classes. Much of the country does--we've lived all over and fairfax is the first district where this is the norm.

[Anonymous]

Protest against the absurd calendar. Everyone checks out after Memorial Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you asking here instead of emailing the teachers? Oh I know - you just want to complain and aren’t actually looking for a solution.

Are you stupid? "Just a vent"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Protest against the absurd calendar. Everyone checks out after Memorial Day.

+1 We need a calendar that aligns with the state and national standards of taking your finals, AP exams, and SOL tests/standardized testing for younger grades in May and then being done at or shortly after Memorial Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe your junior shouldn’t have taken 6 AP classes? That seems excessive.

This is actually a normal level of AP classes.

Normal for who? Not your average high schooler, that's for sure.

+1 6 is excessive even for a very high kid. No sympathy, sorry.