Before high school, the month of January never seemed like anything other than the dreaded time to return to school after a fun holiday break. Yet, once students enter highschool, people forget that it is even a month. 

     In the first and second week, students return to their books and classes, where they may learn a thing or two, or review for finals. In the third week, finals swarm and conquer the halls, as those five days revolve around the lengthy exams. During this week, classes are extended from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, where the students are tested on everything they’ve acquired in the first term. For some, they may just be sitting in silence during this time because teachers could’ve assigned a project for their final, leaving for nothing to be done. In the week after, most students take a break and don’t even get out of bed if they’re not scheduled to take any regents exams. That week, the New York State regents are administered, yet the majority of the student body do not take it because January regents are mostly administered for Juniors and Seniors. 

     However, this year, the January 2022 regents were cancelled by Governor Kathleen Hochul and the Board of Regents in response to an increase in Covid cases in the beginning of the month. Although not official, it is likely that waivers, based on whether they pass the class their regents was scheduled for, will be given to the students who were supposed to take these exams. 

     It is because of this that the ‘specialized’ schedule for finals week was cancelled yet again. Yet, most were unaware that teachers could still assign finals, it’s just that there was no extended timeframe for multiple finals to be administered in the same day. 

The new semester began on February 2, and it is important to remember that any work submitted after the end of the term will not be accepted. If there are any questions, please talk to Mr. Archbold and your teachers.