This semester’s schedule for finals week will differ from that of past years, according to Principal John Williams.

“Our schedule is a little bit different,” Williams said, “but students don’t have to come to school on that Friday so it’s actually pretty nice.”

On Dec. 14, students will go to their Blue Day classes in the order of second, first, third and fourth period and take their first and fourth period Blue Day finals. On Dec. 15, students will go to their Gold Day classes in the order of first period, third period, SRT and fourth period and take all Gold Day finals. On the final day, Dec. 16, students will go to first period, second period, fourth period and third period and take their second and third period Blue Day finals. This differs from last year in that finals are condensed into three full days rather than two full days and two half days.

The change is due to new requirements from the Indiana Department of Education, requiring at least six hours of instruction time to count a school day in its entirety.

“That Thursday, students will not have a first period final so they can use that time to study,” Williams said.

Student body president Jeremy Weprich said students probably will not even notice the change. “At that point, students really just want to be on break,” he said. “It’s just one less day of school.”

Williams said that despite changes, Skip-a-Final is still applicable to eligible students for both semesters. “As long as (students) meet the requirements, they can still participate in Skip-a-Final this year,” Williams said. By Sara Rogers <[email protected]>