Students take an AP Economics exam in the Wrestling Room. Photo by Jacob Bogage '12.

by Michaela O’Donnell ‘13

For the first time, all AP testing, from May 2 to May 13, was held within Sherwood. The move from off-site testing was mostly based on the continued increase in the numbers of AP tests taken by Sherwood students.

“[The benefits of testing at Sherwood were] smaller testing rooms and travel wasn’t necessary for students. I was hoping students would be more comfortable taking the test, being familiar with the location and things like that,” said the AP test coordinator, counselor Jamii Avery.

In spite of the organizers’ efforts to keep hallways clear of students, including the use of hall monitors, some test-takers still noticed distractions from the ongoing school day.  “[In Sherwood] you can sense that time is going by, whereas if you’re in a different place, it’s a whole new environment and you can feel more comfortable and can relax and take your test there,” said senior Adam Zhao.

Some of the complications were students walking into a room where a test was being given, rambunctious students in the halls switching to their next class, and the uncomfortable sense of still being in school without going to classes.

“I am completely for last year’s version, not Sherwood at all because here you have students walking through the hallways,” opined senior Shawn McWilliams. “The temperature is never right [here]. The windows were open, a fan was on or the AC is just too cold. It’s not consistent. At the community center you can choose what temperature to be comfortable. Here, even though there are signs everywhere, students are sometimes not the brightest, and they’ll barge right in during your AP exam and interrupt you.”

“We tried to shut down as much as we could, but obviously we can’t shut down everything,” explained Avery. “So we did the best that we could. To tell you the truth, most students were very respectful of the testing. It was really funny, because I was down there [in the testing areas] a lot of the times, and it was always the same students that we always had the same issues with. It would have been what I expected.”

Although the location of Sherwood is the most convenient for both teachers and students, the un-ignorable factors of a typical school day potentially easily distract students taking their AP tests. For non-test-takers, there also was some getting used to not having the regular dismissal, warning and tardy bell to help students get to and from class.

Avery and others planners will make adjustments as needed in preparation for next year. Because of the growing rate of students taking AP tests, Sherwood will most likely be the permanent location of AP testing.