by Bethany Van Waes ’12

Every new year begins with the dreaded semester exams. They’re worth a quarter of our grade, but they have the worst timing. To be honest, the yearly schedule for Montgomery County Public Schools does not make any sense. Winter break comes right before the end of second quarter, leaving exams to be what students come back to. In college, students start the year earlier, but end their first term in time for Christmas so that they can come back to school refreshed and ready for the second term.

The set up that colleges have would be ideal for public schools like Sherwood. High school is supposed to prepare students for college, but the schedule at present does not prepare them for the way the schedule in college works. The changed schedule would start the school year earlier, but also end it earlier. Students would able to genuinely enjoy their break because they do not have anything to worry about for when they get back. With a schedule change like this, students would come back to school refreshed and ready to begin a new semester rather than be instantly stressed due to coming exams.