BY SOPHIA WENGIER
With final exams just around the corner, it’s time for students to open up Pinnacle and decide which classes they are going to exempt. On Monday, June 5th, final exams will begin and the school year will come to a close. Exam exemption forms were passed out to students on Friday, May 26th in their fifth periods and need to be completed and turned in to the student affairs office by June 2nd at 2:45. No late forms will be accepted.
The exam exemption form must have a parent signature for each class the student is choosing to exempt. Along with these signatures, students need to receive a signature from every single teacher, regardless of whether or not they are exempting that course. Parents need to sign before teachers.
In order to be able to exempt a final, students are required to have either an A or a B for both the third and fourth quarter. Differing from midterms, however, any class can be exempted regardless of whether the class is AP, honors, or regular. EOC classes do not need to be exempted as teachers are not required to give a final after the EOC is taken. The EOC counts for 30% of a student’s final course grade. For non-EOC classes, the weight of each quarter is 37.5% and the weight of the final exam is 25% of the final grade. Some teachers require students to do a final project rather than an exam, so students should check with their individual teachers regarding their policies.
Students are only permitted to exempt a total of three courses. When making this decision, it is important to examine the matrix for final grades, which can be found in most teachers classrooms. The matrix combines grades from both quarters and the final exam to produce one grade for the entire semester. If getting a good grade on the final will result in a higher semester grade, students may find it wise to study and take the exam rather than exempt. It is important to keep in mind that semester grades are what will be on a student’s actual transcript, not quarter or final grades.
Below is the schedule for exam week:
Monday June 5TH Period 1 Exam 7:30AM ‐ 9:20AM Period 2 Exam 9:40AM – 11:30AM
Tuesday June 6TH Period 3 Exam 7:30AM ‐ 9:20AM Period 4 Exam 9:40AM –11:30AM
Wednesday June 7TH Period 5 Exam 7:30AM ‐ 9:20AM Period 6 Exam 9:40AM – 11:30AM
Thursday June 8TH Period 7 Exam 7:30AM ‐ 9:20AM Period 8 Exam 9:40AM – 11:30AM
