On April 13 the St. Charles school board approved calendar changes for next year including having finals before winter break as well as getting three snow days added to the schedule before AMI days.

St. Charles High Principal Dr. Ted Happel explained that when finals were after winter break, all the teachers were stressed out. Having finals after the break, it would also stress out the students due to them possibly forgetting the information. It also didn’t help the students or teachers with preparing for the test coming up right after a long break. St Charles West and St. Charles High brought this up to the board about changing the days and bringing it back to what it was originally.  

St. Charles West Principal Dr. Scott Voelkl and Dr. Happel met up and talked to District Superintendent Dr. Jason Sefrit to see if next year they could switch it again and have it before the break. After they talked, a calendar committee was formed including teachers from across the district. The schools sent out surveys to see if they wanted the semesters to be uneven and move final exams back to where they used to be years ago. It was taken to the board on April 13 because the board is the one who has to approve it before anything is final and gets changed. 

In the future, the school district will be having three snow days built into the school schedule instead of going straight into the AMI days. But if they go over the three snow days limit, it will turn into days added onto the calendar that everyone has to makeup at the end of the year. 

Talking to students, everyone collectively agreed that they would prefer to have finals before the break. Students believe that if they take finals after the break they would forget most of the information they were taught beforehand and what they were studying. The students also want to enjoy their break and not have to worry about whether they will pass or study. 

Having the three snow days built in, students are much happier because there’s less of a chance to make up days at the end of the year. If they make up days, it could ruin people’s plans to go on vacation or part of their summer and also parents won’t be too happy about switching their summer plan around when it was months ahead of time. 

After speaking with teachers, they were on the same path as everyone else was. Most teachers didn’t like the idea of having finals after winter break because they wouldn’t have much time to enjoy the break due to getting stuff ready for their students for testing. They are thrilled because they can now enjoy their break and not have to worry about making new things for their students.

For snow days they are also very excited because it takes stress off them for now making assignments and not having to make plans the night before in case it does snow. It will be a stress-free break and snow days.