After the pandemic caused some students to switch to online classes, a small percentage of them had to adjust to taking exams after the Christmas break. This created a situation where students needed to both attend regular classes and take two hour exams after school.
In a Dec. 17 email sent by Head of Upper School Henry Heil, the school community was informed that 98 percent of students were able to take exams as scheduled the week before break.
“I hope we can appreciate the goal of on-time, in-person exams being achieved,” Heil said. “ESD believes strongly in exams as a vital part of our rigorous curriculum and unparalleled preparation for life beyond Merrell Road. I am grateful to everyone in our community for making this happen.”
Despite the efforts of the school administration to make exams accessible to all students prior to break, senior Ellie Bass was one of the few students whose exams had to be pushed back to the week after the Christmas break.
“I took my exams on Wednesday and Thursday after school the first week we got back,” Bass said. “It was more stressful [than taking exams as regularly scheduled] because I had to study while doing other homework that week.”
In addition to the stress of managing schoolwork and exams at the same time, Bass had concerns over the testing environment she had to work in.
“The [auxiliary] gym was super loud during after school testing because of little kids running around and basketball practice next door,” Bass said. “We [also] couldn’t [take exams] in before school testing.”