With only three weeks left in the school year, many students are spending their classes scrolling on their phones, watching movies or completing meaningless busy work. The Washington State Board of Education mandates 1,080 instructional hours each year. This year, schools in NSD don’t get out until June 25, which is considerably late compared to schools in other states. Across the US, AP and IB tests occur on the same dates, mainly in May. After testing, many classes become useless with no more curriculum to teach, but there are ways this could be fixed.
Schools in other states usually begin in July or August, while Washington begins in September. Although Inglemoor gets out later, the duration of the school year is relatively the same, but being forced to undergo another month of school after exams is not only pointless, but brutal to hardworking students who deserve a break. One solution to the wasted days after testing could be to start school in August so it ends in May. That way, as soon as final exams are finished, school ends, similar to a university. The most effective way to schedule the school year would be to begin in August so that more school days could be dedicated to preparing for exams.
While only 30% of students take exams in May, the rest don’t take AP or IB exams. Even though the stress of exams doesn’t affect them, enduring that last month of June is still tough and boring, especially because most classes complete their curriculum in May. June is a hot, endless drag for students who just want to enjoy their summer.
However, getting out in June doesn’t have to feel meaningless and dragged out. Schools should implement alternative ways to make classes educational and engaging to reach the mandated 1,080 hours. One option could be different activities to increase engagement and interest from students. Educational games and competitions would allow students to enjoy learning during this time, bringing life to classes that are instead showing movies to pass the time. Bringing these games outside would also allow students to engage more instead of feeling locked up in classrooms while the weather is nice. Engaging activities and lessons that extend beyond the curriculum would help students feel like there is a reason to attend school and interact with their classmates while learning.
Learning with less pressure after exams would lessen stress and help students gain confidence in their learning. Being pressured to succeed all the time gets overwhelming, so normalizing mistakes as a part of learning will help boost performance and engagement. Especially at the end of the school year, the last thing students need is to take more tests. Class time should be spent learning for the sake of learning rather than to take a test. This could be helpful for students as they could be taught studying skills or time management techniques during this time.
No matter what, students will always feel eager for summer break during the last month of the school year, but it’s important that they are still engaged and taught valuable lessons during classes. Ending the school year in May or spending class time in valuable ways would be a far more effective way to increase participation and therefore learning.
