Anonymous
04/21/2026 06:00
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I doubt teachers want to grade a stack of essays and exams feeling the crunch of the end of the year,m deadline, cleaning up the classroom, juggling meetings, etc the very.last.week.of.school.
It’s half days, we see each class one time and give the final in the morning then grade in the afternoon. Most of us aren’t giving big essay tests as the last final. At least any experienced teacher isn’t. How long do you think it takes me to clean up my classroom? This isn’t elementary school. It’s not that complicated in HS.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 18:31
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yes, finals are the last week of school. I teach at Robinson, we have explicitly been told we must give a final project or activity during the last block, it cannot be a party/movie/origami/field games day.
Read the syllabi for the classes. We were required to write if we intended to do a project or exam when we wrote them back in August.
Does the syllabus say you're doing the exam the last three half-days of school specifically? I looked at ours, and they do not. I've had at least one kid at another FCPS HS for five years now, and they've never had final exams the last three half days of school, and sending out the notice in April that they're suddenly requiring the final/project on those specific days is ridiculous.
My junior is registered for an academic camp that directly aligns with their intended major that was only offered at that time and had to be booked in January. It's basically to help them decide if they want to commit to this specific field, which is very rigidly scheduled and tough to transfer to other majors if they decide they don't want to do it. This is the only time any of our kids have ever missed school for anything other than illness or a doctor's appointment that could not be scheduled on a non-school day, so I'm kind of pissed that they picked this year to decide that "mandatory" finals are going to be on the last three days of school when when they've never been anything but yearbook signing and end-of-year social time.
Have your child reach out to the teacher now. Every year out of my 100ish underclassmen, I have 7-10 who miss finals because their family goes on vacation early, they have to get to camp early for counselor training, they are spending all summer in Asia, whatever. We know this will happen, and we make a list of all the kids in ________ course across all teachers that are going to miss their final and offer alternative times a week or two early after school.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 18:15
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Yes, finals are the last week of school. I teach at Robinson, we have explicitly been told we must give a final project or activity during the last block, it cannot be a party/movie/origami/field games day.
Read the syllabi for the classes. We were required to write if we intended to do a project or exam when we wrote them back in August.
Does the syllabus say you're doing the exam the last three half-days of school specifically? I looked at ours, and they do not. I've had at least one kid at another FCPS HS for five years now, and they've never had final exams the last three half days of school, and sending out the notice in April that they're suddenly requiring the final/project on those specific days is ridiculous.
My junior is registered for an academic camp that directly aligns with their intended major that was only offered at that time and had to be booked in January. It's basically to help them decide if they want to commit to this specific field, which is very rigidly scheduled and tough to transfer to other majors if they decide they don't want to do it. This is the only time any of our kids have ever missed school for anything other than illness or a doctor's appointment that could not be scheduled on a non-school day, so I'm kind of pissed that they picked this year to decide that "mandatory" finals are going to be on the last three days of school when when they've never been anything but yearbook signing and end-of-year social time.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 13:54
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
We are in FCPS, Marshall HS. Last year, DS' had his Chemistry exam 2 days before the school was over. It was just weird, I knew there were Seniors in his class.
I teach classes with seniors. One team has decided seniors are either exempt from the final if they are passing the class, or they take it early if they need a last ditch attempt to raise their grade. The other team has decided everyone takes it, seniors just get a week or two less review time because they have to take it early.
Completely unfair and I’d complain as a parent. Both teams should be doing the same thing.
Seems logical that the algebra 2 team (where there are max 3-4 seniors per class) would have different policies than the prob/stats class (where almost everyone is a senior) would have different policies than AP Precalc (where it's 50/50 seniors and juniors)
Thanks for clarifying. I misunderstood the context of teams.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 13:54
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Seniors at Oakton are exempt from finals if they do the internship which runs May 13-22. After that is the 5 day weekend, presentations for the internship, and then grad rehearsals and honors stuff. Graduation is June 3. So basically Freshmen-Juniors have a month more of school than the seniors.
What is the internship?
Anonymous
04/20/2026 13:49
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Seniors at Oakton are exempt from finals if they do the internship which runs May 13-22. After that is the 5 day weekend, presentations for the internship, and then grad rehearsals and honors stuff. Graduation is June 3. So basically Freshmen-Juniors have a month more of school than the seniors.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 12:43
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
We are in FCPS, Marshall HS. Last year, DS' had his Chemistry exam 2 days before the school was over. It was just weird, I knew there were Seniors in his class.
I teach classes with seniors. One team has decided seniors are either exempt from the final if they are passing the class, or they take it early if they need a last ditch attempt to raise their grade. The other team has decided everyone takes it, seniors just get a week or two less review time because they have to take it early.
Completely unfair and I’d complain as a parent. Both teams should be doing the same thing.
The students that it "disadvantages" are Seniors and most Senior kids/parents are completely checked out at that point. Graduate early = take exams early.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 08:53
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
We are in FCPS, Marshall HS. Last year, DS' had his Chemistry exam 2 days before the school was over. It was just weird, I knew there were Seniors in his class.
I teach classes with seniors. One team has decided seniors are either exempt from the final if they are passing the class, or they take it early if they need a last ditch attempt to raise their grade. The other team has decided everyone takes it, seniors just get a week or two less review time because they have to take it early.
Completely unfair and I’d complain as a parent. Both teams should be doing the same thing.
Seems logical that the algebra 2 team (where there are max 3-4 seniors per class) would have different policies than the prob/stats class (where almost everyone is a senior) would have different policies than AP Precalc (where it's 50/50 seniors and juniors)
Anonymous
04/20/2026 07:06
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
We are in FCPS, Marshall HS. Last year, DS' had his Chemistry exam 2 days before the school was over. It was just weird, I knew there were Seniors in his class.
I teach classes with seniors. One team has decided seniors are either exempt from the final if they are passing the class, or they take it early if they need a last ditch attempt to raise their grade. The other team has decided everyone takes it, seniors just get a week or two less review time because they have to take it early.
Completely unfair and I’d complain as a parent. Both teams should be doing the same thing.
I do not think it is unfair. Likely, the PP means that one entire team (e.g., the Prob/Stat team) has decided on an exemption policy, and the other entire team (e.g., the Precalculus team) has decided that seniors will take the final. Different classes often have slightly different policies.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 01:17
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
Chantilly.
AP Class 1 - Part 1 of Final exam is on Friday, April 24th. Part 2 is on Tuesday, April 28th. They will cover additional material not tested after that, and there are 2 quizzes in June, but no finals or any other summatives.
AP Class 2 - Finals are on April 28th. Per students who took it last year, there are few odd things here and there that they will do after, but mostly, they play Monopoly. I'm not sure whether to believe that.
AP Class 3 - There isn't much teaching or exams in the first place, so there is no reason to believe there will be any after the AP exam. The instructor doesn't really post much information.
I stand corrected. I’m also a Chantilly parent and my child does not have any finals in April. My child is only taking 1 AP class and they are not having a final in it before the AP exam. So for my child, all finals will be following the schedule posted online which goes up until the last day.
My daughter does have a final exam that falls in that last week or so.
AP Class 3 apparently does have a finals in the next week or two, but it is ungraded.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 01:01
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
We are in FCPS, Marshall HS. Last year, DS' had his Chemistry exam 2 days before the school was over. It was just weird, I knew there were Seniors in his class.
I teach classes with seniors. One team has decided seniors are either exempt from the final if they are passing the class, or they take it early if they need a last ditch attempt to raise their grade. The other team has decided everyone takes it, seniors just get a week or two less review time because they have to take it early.
Completely unfair and I’d complain as a parent. Both teams should be doing the same thing.
NP - does it really matter? The finals can’t count for more than 10% of the grade and students can’t get less than a 50 on them.
A with a perfect 100% in the class who completely fails would drop to a 95. Still an A. A child with a barely passing 61% would drop to a 59.9% which rounds up to a 60 and is still a D. The only kids it’s important for are those on the cusp of two grades where the difference between a B and a B+ is important. Those aren’t seniors. Seniors just need to keep grades similar to what they were back in January. The difference between a 79 and a 81 isn’t important anymore.
Finals are really just an attempt to keep kids engaged through the end.
Anonymous
04/20/2026 00:23
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
Chantilly.
AP Class 1 - Part 1 of Final exam is on Friday, April 24th. Part 2 is on Tuesday, April 28th. They will cover additional material not tested after that, and there are 2 quizzes in June, but no finals or any other summatives.
AP Class 2 - Finals are on April 28th. Per students who took it last year, there are few odd things here and there that they will do after, but mostly, they play Monopoly. I'm not sure whether to believe that.
AP Class 3 - There isn't much teaching or exams in the first place, so there is no reason to believe there will be any after the AP exam. The instructor doesn't really post much information.
I stand corrected. I’m also a Chantilly parent and my child does not have any finals in April. My child is only taking 1 AP class and they are not having a final in it before the AP exam. So for my child, all finals will be following the schedule posted online which goes up until the last day.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 22:25
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
Chantilly.
AP Class 1 - Part 1 of Final exam is on Friday, April 24th. Part 2 is on Tuesday, April 28th. They will cover additional material not tested after that, and there are 2 quizzes in June, but no finals or any other summatives.
AP Class 2 - Finals are on April 28th. Per students who took it last year, there are few odd things here and there that they will do after, but mostly, they play Monopoly. I'm not sure whether to believe that.
AP Class 3 - There isn't much teaching or exams in the first place, so there is no reason to believe there will be any after the AP exam. The instructor doesn't really post much information.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 20:50
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
We are in FCPS, Marshall HS. Last year, DS' had his Chemistry exam 2 days before the school was over. It was just weird, I knew there were Seniors in his class.
I teach classes with seniors. One team has decided seniors are either exempt from the final if they are passing the class, or they take it early if they need a last ditch attempt to raise their grade. The other team has decided everyone takes it, seniors just get a week or two less review time because they have to take it early.
Completely unfair and I’d complain as a parent. Both teams should be doing the same thing.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 19:34
Subject: Exams the last week of school?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Our school calendar has underclassmen final exams scheduled on the last two days of school. This seems odd given the half days and that seniors in the same classes would have graduated and been done by then. Do any teachers know if this is accurate? In the past, the grades always seemed to be due prior to the last week.
You’re thinking of elementary school and possibly middle school then. High school has always worked this way. The exam is part of the final grade so grades cannot be due before the final exams. And final exams have always been scheduled up until the last day. So no leaving early for vacation this year. Sorry.
Our high school did not have any testing the last week of school last year. Kids just did fun end of school stuff. Well deserved after all the AP exams and SOLs.
Which school? Every school I’ve worked at had finals, a project or presentation of some sort during final exam week. That sounds like a waste of time and asking students to skip in HS. - teacher
I’m sure this is a troll now. Every FCPS high school has finals.
DD’s school has finals, but several of her classes do not. Finals for 3 of the classes are before the AP exams, so done by the end of April.
You’re not in FCPS then. Finals are not done in April. Name the school.
We are in FCPS, Marshall HS. Last year, DS' had his Chemistry exam 2 days before the school was over. It was just weird, I knew there were Seniors in his class.
I teach classes with seniors. One team has decided seniors are either exempt from the final if they are passing the class, or they take it early if they need a last ditch attempt to raise their grade. The other team has decided everyone takes it, seniors just get a week or two less review time because they have to take it early.