As students finish up finals week, they might be interested to know that next year, finals will be held before winter break.
South hasn’t had finals before winter break since 2019, when the law was passed that schools in Missouri must start no more than 14 days before the first Monday in September. Now, Parkway is going back to having first semester end before break, with a shorter fall break.
“I feel like it will make December a little bit more stressful,” English teacher, Melissa Gebhard said. “[And] because students haven’t known any differently, but when finals moved after winter break, students were not happy about it.”
Gebhard, along with others, predicts the transition won’t be incredible, but will smooth over after the first year. She also thinks Parkway is introducing this change because it is best for students.
“It’s really hard for students to come back and just have one week and then take tests,” she said.
Gebhard mentions that it can “disrupt the flow of learning” to have this break in between. She thinks it will be better for students to have everything done for first semester by winter break, so everybody gets an actual break.
Students have different views on this subject, though.
Freshman Natalie Hamlin believes Parkway is implementing this change to make the first semester less stressful. Hamlin assumes the juniors won’t like the transition, but will quickly adjust.
“As a freshman, it would be the next three years, but for juniors, it would only be the one, but it would be better overall,” Hamlin said.
Along with Gebhard, math teacher Rodney Holtmeyer teaches in the Patriot Global Academy, and it will start next year. He has no concerns with the schedule.
“Both will begin simultaneously, so the program’s schedule will naturally align with the new calendar from the start,” Holtmeyer said.
Gebhard said she has no concerns with the transition either.
“What’s lovely about Patriot Global Academy is even more flexible than the traditional school schedule, so it’s competency-based,” she said.
With minimal concerns about schedule conflicts, both teachers are excited to launch Patriot Global Academy next school year.
Everyone is excited to see how this change will affect our school and the students. From teachers to incoming freshmen to graduating seniors, we all look forward to a new year with a different schedule.
“I think the first year will go fairly well, but it’ll be different and something to adjust to,” Hamlin said. “It’s just an adjustment.”
