No Open Campus For Finals

The second semester finals schedule at Black River Falls High School is going to be looking a little bit different. There will no longer be open campus like there was the last semester.

“The schedule changed for a couple reasons. One was multiplie missed days from snow days. We also did not get positive response from the way finals ran first semester–tons of time went into the scheduling, with little return,” said Assistant Principal Jason Janke.

The finals schedule is going to have a very different look to it this semester, but how is it going to be changing?

“To the best of my understanding, the finals format will change to what it was like in past years. Although the open campus finals were a refreshing change for most students and staff, there were simply too many snow days this year,” said guidance counselor Eric Erickson.

Another reason that the schedule will be changing is that it is going to be less confusing when it comes to conflicts for the students and teachers.

“I do think that this setup is more student-convenient, as far as figuring out conflicts, etc. Sometimes the ‘keep it simple’ theory works best,” said Janke.

The schedule change was also made so that the students don’t have to come back and make up that last day on Monday, June 10.

“The school district administration decided that it would make more sense to reduce finals from four days to two and a half days. If the change wouldn’t have been made, we would have had to make up extra days of school at at the end of the year,” said Erickson.

Last semester, finals were a very hectic time for teachers. That is why this semester, the teachers are glad that the schedule is more organized.

“I do feel that the students are not going to be happy with no open campus, but I am just glad that it is more organized than last semester,” said English teacher Justice Broker.

The students on the other hand are not as excited for the change.

“I feel no open campus will be a setback for all the students who can drive. Those students that can drive finally have to privilege to come in as they wish . It [the open campus] somewhat gave us a glimpse of how college will work with such testing,” said junior Joel Kinder.

In the next years, the counselors along with the staff are going to try and work out the bug and bring the open campus finals back.

“Almost all students like the open campus format that was used during [first] semester finals. If the weather cooperates in [the] future, there is a good chance we will go back to the open campus finals concept.  I hope that is something we can continue next year and beyond,” said Erickson.

The finals for second semester will work like this:

June 5

1st hour – study hall

2nd hour- 2nd block A day

3rd hour- 3rd block A day 3rd hour- 3rd block B day 3rd hour- fun activities

4th hour- 4th block A day 4th hour- 4th block B day 4th hour- fun activities

 June 6

1st hour- study hall

2nd hour- 2nd block B day

June 7

1st hour- 1st block A day

2nd hour- 1st block A day