This year, finals week at Billings Central High School will look a little different compared to previous years. The finals schedule will be moved up a day, with finals beginning on Tuesday and students’ seventh period final being on Thursday rather than Friday. The change was made mainly to help student athletes who are competing in state events like track, softball, and baseball. All of which are scheduled to take place later in the week. If the schedule had remained the same, students would have missed two full days of finals. This would have made things more stressful for both students and teachers and led to a lot of makeup tests. Principal Nolan Trafton said the decision came after talking with teachers and thinking about what would be easiest for both students and staff. “With spring sports having state softball, state track, state baseball all in one weekend that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,” he said. “I talked to the teachers, and we thought it would be best to shift everything up a day just to try and keep more students in the building and having less makeup tests.” By moving the finals earlier, most athletes will only miss one day instead of two, which helps reduce stress and keeps things more organized during an already chaotic time of the year.
The updated schedule means finals will now take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday instead of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. “Everything’s just being bumped up one day,” Trafton said. Friday will remain a half day, but instead of testing, it will be used for iPad checkout, locker clean out, and any remaining makeup tests. Thursday will also be a shorter day, and students will have the option to volunteer at St. Francis for their field day.
The change to finals is meant to make them run smoother and reduce the number of makeup tests for students and teachers, all while keeping schedules manageable.
