By: Cole Hamner

Students have faced multiple hurdles during the pandemic, but there is one less for them to jump over this school year: final exams.

Cony High School has cancelled finals for both semesters of the 2020-2021 school year.

Principal Kim Silsby and assistant principals, with the input from staff, thought about many factors before making their decision, including whether teachers would have enough time to fit in final exams with fewer teaching days and whether it was worth losing more instruction days to testing.

In a typical school year, finals involve several days for preparation and more for testing. It can add up to at least a week of time.

“I think it’s very hard in the situation that we’re in to give a final exam,” said Cony Social studies teacher Jennifer Tripp.

Instead of a final exam, Tripp assigned a project at the end of the semester to help students utilize what they had learned and show that they had mastered concepts. Her students did well on the projects, she said.

“We’re doing the best we can with what we have to work with,” Tripp said.

Finals being cancelled is a relief to many minds — not just students but some teachers as well.

"Because there are no finals it gives me a little extra time at the end to accomplish a few things that I usually don’t get to," said Ricci Justice, who teaches math.

But some teachers say that students do benefit from final exams and not just their grades.

“I feel like finals aren't the factor that make you pass or fail a class,” Angel Sylvester, who teaches English.

During finals students learn how to tackle a large exam that covers "a big chunk of content" similar to what they may see in college, she said. The experience of preparing for tests in high school can also help reduce "undue anxiety" around testing in college, she said.