On Friday, January 7, Mr. Mitchell announced via email that all mid-year exams were canceled. This marks the second year in a row that midterms have been canceled due to pandemic-related issues. 

Last year, midterms were cancelled due to the logistical challenges of remote learning. At the time, some students were fully remote, while others were in the building two days a week. This challenge led former principal Mrs. Nemeth to write in an email to students that “the pros to giving midterm exams do not outweigh the cons.”

This year, midterms were canceled due to “both student and faculty absences this week”, according to Mr. Mitchell’s schoolwide email. As COVID-19 spreads in and around the school, many students have had to quarantine after being a close contact or testing positive. 

Traditionally, all midterm exams would take place over one week that included three half days. Due to this year’s cancellation, the three half days have been replaced with full days of school. The exams counted as 7.5% of students’ overall course grade; however, that will  not be the case this year. 

According to Mr. Mitchell, the 7.5% that the midterms were originally supposed to count for will be absorbed into the term grades. Final exams will have their normal weight, and won’t be affected by the cancellation of midterms. 

Despite the sudden change to the grading system, many students welcomed the idea of not taking midterms. LHS senior Aaron Stasiowski approved of the cancellation, citing that there would be “less stress over the tests.” Nixing the exams will also allow students who have been absent due to COVID-19 to catch up on the work they’ve missed. 

Some teachers have voiced their approval of the cancellation as well. When asked how she felt about the cancellation of midterms, LHS social studies teacher Mrs. Anderson expressed that it was a positive thing, claiming that “we can use the time to reinforce stuff that we’ve lost time on” and that it’s “a good time to have a discussion on how effective midterms actually are.”

As popular as the move was, some students were disappointed, because they had wanted to take the midterms. LHS senior Lance Tomlinson said he wanted to take them because he wanted to “get back into the normal groove of things.” In addition to losing that sense of normalcy, losing midterms means no half days of school for students next week, which was a disappointment to some. Until things go back to “normal,” both students and staff will continue to adapt to the unique challenges brought by the pandemic.