Do you want to study for finals over winter break? Some say it’s a nightmare, but the majority of students and families seem to think it’s a lifesaver.
After receiving feedback, Parkway changed the calendar for the 2025-2026 school year to have finals prior to winter break. This would allow students to pause on school work and have a stress-free break, but requires studying to begin earlier than anticipated.
In an email from district administration, the Calendar Committee decision on changes “takes into consideration historical survey feedback from parents, students, and staff.”
Sophomore Christina Wang is in favor of the change.
“I like it because I won’t have to study during winter break,” Wang said. “It will cause stress having to study while completing assignments, but it is worth it because now I will have free time during winter break.”
This year finals will look different for sophomores like Wang. Last year they were hold-harmless due to the snow days right after winter break, which affected the review week before finals.
“I didn’t study much last year because it wasn’t going to negatively affect my grade,” Wang said. “That was all I knew, so this year I will have to make sure to study more.”
Senior Bella Margul does not have the same excitement for the change as some students. She liked having winter break and the week after to regroup in her classes and make sure she fully understands the material prior to the final.
“I don’t like that they are before winter break because everything seems more rushed,” Margul said. “When we have it after break there is a week of review and it gives me more time to study.”
A positive to having finals after winter break was the sufficient time to prepare and review, and Margul believed that helped her be more successful for each exam. Now, she feels more overwhelmed because finals are approaching sooner, and that is seen in the shortened lessons.
“It feels like teachers are rushing,” Margul said. “Being rushed is not a good thing for me because I like to take my time and fully understand what I’m learning. I tend to get more stressed when it is quicker.”
Margul knows that she will have to change her study habits this year to be fully prepared when finals week arrives.
“I will have to start studying earlier to make sure I am understanding everything,” Margul said. “It’s a plus to not have to worry about it over winter break, but last year I didn’t find myself worrying because we still had the week to review.”
As finals are quickly approaching, Margul begins to think about how she will prepare differently this year, but one thing never changes.
“I make sure to take time out of the day to study,” Margul said. “Making sure not to procrastinate and not to do it the day before.”
Similarly, math teacher Heather Jafari believes the change is more beneficial for students.
“I hate that they had to study over winter break,” Jafari said. “And if they didn’t study over break they were just so far behind. It also made that week back from break all review and more useless time rather than teaching material.”
Math teacher Kurt Lehmann has been on the Calendar Committee since the 2023-2024 school year, which consists of 23 other individuals. Lehmann is also a part of the sub-committee which is three teachers, one from each level of education, as well as a few administrators. This committee proposes the school year calendar to as many teachers as possible before presenting it to the Board of Education. He believes that having finals before winter break is very beneficial for students.
“It eliminates the need to study over the intended break,” Lehmann said. “Students are mentally able to start a new semester with a fresh start to coincide with a brand new year in January.”
From a teacher’s standpoint, Jafari thought finals after break were a plus. She made sure to have her students’ grades updated before the break so they knew where their grade was, and what they needed to study.
“It was enjoyable because we had a week to get our minds back,” Jafari said. “I already tried to have everything graded before break, so from a grading standpoint it’s not too different for me.”
Having finals before winter break has changed the calendar. This included shortening fall break, two fewer school days, and the second semester being six days longer than first semester. While this might be difficult for semester long classes, the administration center stated it will end up working out.
“When we factor in the number of days that are typically used in the second semester for state testing and snow days, the number of days per semester will be more balanced,” according to administration center emails.
Fortunately for Jafari, all her classes are year long so she has the same students for both semesters, which allows her to switch up her classes schedules.
“We can move material to the next semester which is nice,” Jafari said. “The biggest challenge for my AP Stats classes is that we will have to split up a unit so it’s not too rushed in the first semester.”
Some teachers provide different tools to help students study for finals, including study guides, cheat sheets, and more. For Wang, she utilizes different methods to help her be successful.
“Paying attention in class and taking notes is really important,” Wang said. “Taking practice tests for specific classes and [if] it’s vocab heavy, I make sure to study the terms. I focus on things I don’t know as well first.”
For those unsure where to start when it comes to studying, Wang gives a piece of advice that she uses to fully prepare her for final exams.
“I ask myself, if I only had two hours to study, what would I prioritize the most?” Wang said.
From a teacher’s perspective, Jafari notices a common struggle that students have when studying for finals.
“A lot of students memorize for the unit rather than understanding the concept,” Jafari said. “Over the semester they forget some of the basic things they learned.”
Even if finals seem like a while away, it will be here before you know it. Jafari encourages students to not procrastinate and not wait until the last minute to begin studying.
“Do it throughout the semester,” Jafari said. “When you get tests back make sure you go over them. Sometimes they do poorly on the test and they don’t want to look at it, and will wait until the end of the semester to learn the material.”
