To reduce end-of-year stress, the administration has approved a one year experimental policy under which students in grades nine through11 will take only two final exams this June, down from four to five finals in past years.

“We found that last year, there was a lot of stress for finals, and we wanted to find a way to relieve some of that stress and find other ways to have culminating activities and/or evaluations. A particular interest was not to have a final exam that encompasssed a full year of material,” said Dean Roslyn Landy.

The new schedule includes final exams in English, history and science, that will cover material taught during the second semester. It eliminates rabbinics finals and substitutes math finals with three trimester exams per grade.

Freshmen will take exams in English and science, while sophomores will take exams in history and English. Junior finals will cover history and science.

Although the end-of-year schedule for the middle school has not yet been finalized, the administration is considering restructuring the eighth grade finals program and eliminating cumulative math finals, according to Director of Middle School Joan Vander Walde. All middle school math students currently take trimester exams after the first and second trimesters.

For high school students, the new end-of-year policy also re-structures the schedule for the last three weeks of the school year. During the weeks of May 28, June 4 and June 11, students may be given tests and major projects in only three subjects per week. Departments are assigned specific weeks in which to give tests and projects to each grade.

Eleventh grade English teachers, for example, must give their final major assignments during the week of June 1.

According to English teacher Dr. Thomas Worden, it is impractical to test students on material covered early in the year. Worden’s final exams from previous years have not been cumulative, and he is open to exploring other ways of evaluating students.

“For me, [the final] is an opportunity to see if people have been able to internalize the skills we’ve worked on all year. If I could get that out of a last piece of writing and not have to give a last test, I’d do that,” he said.

Other teachers, such as math teacher Ayana Touval, are skeptical about the changes.

“We should have final exams because in math you need a comprehensive exam. In the end of the year, students have to get the feeling for how the end of the material connects to the beginning. The final exam gives the opportunity to do all that,” she said.

History Department Chair Dr. David Kobrin is optimistic about the changes his department will make in accordance with the new policy.

“We’ll definitely give final evaluations, whether they are projects, tests or interactive activities. [The new policy] gives us more flexibility, and we’re pleased that it takes the pressure off students. It gives people a chance to focus on one subject at a time,” he said.

The finals policy will be re-evaluated at the end of the year.