As the school year draws to a close, finals are right around the corner. Finals will span over two weeks, from May 24 to June 3 due to the hybrid learning format. There will be adjustments to the schedule and format of finals, Principal Greg Giglio said in a Zoom interview.

Giglio said in a Zoom interview that due to county COVID-19 safety precautions, the district will only permit students already in hybrid learning to take finals in person, and those in remote learning will remain online.

Precalculus teacher Bethany Mathews said in a Zoom interview that finals week for her math classes will be spent covering additional content, differing from past years where students would be given a final test concluding all chapters throughout the year.

“For math, we decided it was better to slow down for the last few weeks because on hybrid we figured there will be some issues with lecturing,” Mathews said in a Zoom interview. “We decided it’s better to teach more and get students more prepared [for] math courses for next year instead of preparing for final tests.”

Similar to math classes, chemistry courses will also implement finals differently from traditional years by ending the school year with a group presentation to the class.

Chemistry teacher Adrianne Navarro said in an email that each student completed a series of chemistry labs at home. During finals week, students will submit a journal of all their labs and will present their findings of one lab in assigned groups. Students who are in person will present in the classroom, and students who are remote will present on Zoom.

“In the past, my students were given a summative assessment in a traditional format where a multiple-choice test was taken independently,” Navarro said in an email interview. “This year, it is more project-based and collaborative.”

To minimize discrepancies between test-taking in person and online, Giglio said preventative measures for cheating on finals, such as restructuring and reframing test questions, are being taken. Giglio said restructuring test questions helps prevent cheating by making it harder for students to copy and paste internet source answers and requiring students to take extra steps when solving the problem. To make creating a less desirable option, Giglio said some courses will have resources for students to reference during exams.

“I know it’s been a difficult year so we really are going to ask that you try your best and do what you can,” Giglio said. “ That’s why we’re looking at alternate ways to try and demonstrate mastery rather than just memorization and regurgitation.”