This year, Hackley’s administration made the decision to move exams up to the middle of February to allow for fewer conflicts and more flexibility with the second trimester. 

“I feel that the change is fine, but I wish that President’s Day weekend wasn’t in the middle of the exam schedule,” said sophomore Alex Aybar.

What has changed?

In the past, the review period for upper school exams started the Thursday before, marking the end of any outside work or assessments. Final review and the first two exams on Wednesday and Thursday, along with a review day on Friday, marked the end of the second trimester. The final two exams would take place on the following Monday and Tuesday, with most courses returning to normal classes on the next Wednesday or Friday. 

Exams this year will still take place during four school days, and the entire process with review days and the exams itself will still spread out across three weeks. This year, however, exam review will start in the second week of February and continue through Super Bowl weekend into the next week. That week will mark the final two review days and the first two exams. Following the rotation of exams, science exams will occur first on Wednesday, and history exams with a review day on the Friday before the long weekend. There is an “extra” review day to study this year with no school on Presidents Day Monday for final studying before the language and math exams the following Tuesday and Wednesday.

Why the Change?

According to upper school administrators, the main reasons behind the change were to allow for more flexibility with the end of the second trimester and to minimize conflicts with major athletic contests.

“Students will find that the schedule change will allow for fewer conflicts with athletic contests, and will find that they will benefit from the additional time they will have at the end of the second trimester,” said Assistant Director of the Upper School Chris Arnold, who coordinates exams.

The timing of the exams in the past also created conflicts with the admissions office as the old review period overlapped with the times accepted Hackley applicants visited the school and sat in on classes. However, due to the exam review period and English essay writing periods, these prospective students often would not experience a true Hackley class when they visited. These visits also put stress on the student buddies, many of whom are freshmen, having to hand off and coordinate their days around the visits, as was a concern for the admissions office.

Impact on Students

Students who will likely see the most impact on their days at school are those in acting classes and members of athletic teams.

Athletic Impact

In the past, there were many conflicts for those on athletic teams who made it into the various NYSAIS tournaments that take place in February, marking the end of winter athletics. Last year, athletes on the NYSAIS qualifying Varsity basketball teams experienced conflicts between the tournament’s games and practices. In the past, there were also many indirect conflicts with athletics. Last year, the Varsity swimming team and other teams had NYSAIS finals on the Friday and  Saturday before exams, and while exams didn’t take place on the days of their contests, athletes lost time they could have been preparing and studying for their exams.

This year, moving the exams to the middle of February will place them in the middle of many Ivy competitions and NYSAIS events. Like in past years, athletes are likely to experience conflicts again this year, although last year students who had practices after school were not mandated to attend them as all practices during the exam period were optional. 

Varsity practices would be up to 90 minutes long but many teams only run practices for around an hour, which allowed for time to study. While students had to attend contests that were held during exams, the optional practices gave students the flexibility to get in additional studying, though many still went to practices in order to play well in their games. This year with exams scheduled between Ivies and NYSAIS, there will likely be more conflicts for students and teams who qualify for these events, as they will likely have to practice for Ivies before exams and NYSAIS immediately after or for some coaches and teams during exams. A conflict already spotted for Ivies is the indoor track’s meet on 2/19, the last exam day, which means runners will have to balance their athletic commitments with their exams.

The Impact of Acting Classes

Actors in Hackley’s Upper School play and musical will likely also see conflicts during the exam period. Actors in the play will see the most impact of the change, as the combination of their play being later in the winter and exams being earlier pits the two against each other with the play’s three showings taking place right before the exams. In the past, students in the play would  leave classes early and miss some classes and practices because of the play. This year with many of these classes taking place during review days, actors without a schedule change for  rehearsals or the play may have to miss review classes to rehearse and prepare for their shows, along with missing potential Ivy & NYSAIS practices. 

“I think moving exams earlier for me, with Ivies and NYSAIS for Indoor Track and the play, will likely disrupt the amount of time I can study for exams,” said sophomore Caitlin Morrow.

Only time will tell how students will be impacted by the new changes, but Mr. Arnold wanted to emphasize that “there has never been a permanent or traditional position for when exams were, and we can always change or shift when they take place, depending on the opinions of this new schedule.”