Nicolas Valladolid ’23

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The Strake Jesuit Administration decided to cancel final exams for the 2021 spring semester. 

Strake Jesuit students have not had a semester final since the fall Fall 2019. With the onset of the pandemic, the Strake Jesuit community had to shift towards online learning models, leading to many changes to the curriculum. The administration has acknowledged that online learning and the Covid environment has created inconsistencies with what students were learning, thus necessitating changes.

“SJ students will not have finals in this year of Covid-19,” Ms. Simien, Sophomore Personal Counselor,  said. “Many classes may give a final test or project for students to determine mastery or understanding in a subject.”

Before the pandemic, finals were worth 20% of a semester average. Without finals, other assessments will make up the missing 20%.

“The lack of finals will not affect the GPA because instructors will use other assessments for the overall grade in a subject,” Ms. Simien said. 

The lack of finals also presents new uncertainties about the college admissions process.

“The Colleges are aware that this is the year of COVID-19 and they will take that under consideration when evaluating a potential candidate,” Ms. Simien said. “I am not sure that this will affect the process because everyone has been affected by COVID-19. The admission process will make the appropriate adjustments and considerations for the pandemic.”

All of these changes are temporary and are purely based on the pandemic’s status.

“The 2021-2022 school year is slated to return to mid-term/finals,” Ms. Simien said. “Finals are a way to be sure that a student understands the material taught to them throughout the school year.”