Five day weeks are no longer the norm for LCPS students.  Instead, they got used to sleeping during the day, spending hours upon hours on Netflix, and procrastinating on schoolwork that would have eventually be handed in.  One day turned into two and then four until it, quite literally, snowballed into 14 snow days.  The idea of not having full days or weeks of school was growing on everyone until the last week of the quarter rolled on.  Suddenly, students are flexing in and out of class, studying for tests like there is no tomorrow, and forgoing sleep to come to school early and retake tests.

 The last week of any quarter is already stressful, what with students trying to bring their grade up as much as possible by retaking any test they can.  With the number of snow days, however, students lost time, not only for retakes but the actual lessons.  Teachers had to make the best of the situation and cram as much as they could into limited 90 minute classes, but there was only so much that could be done to make the end of the quarter stressfree.

 “It’s just really stressful because I have to learn all of the lessons by myself, and teachers need to move on because we have AP exams and finals. It’s not really their fault,” said junior Evelyn Heng.

 Heng is one of the many who are growing worried about their grades in their classes due to the snow days.  Although time was lost, snow days also contributed to the lack of motivation and sleep deprivation in students, especially since a snow day meant sleeping in and during the day.

 “We lost all of our momentum.  Kids became lazier and sleep deprived, and then got used to sleeping during the day.  So during those days in school, everyone was sitting there with a blank stare.  With a foreign language or math class, so much of it depends on what you take in from class,” said foreign language teacher Mrs. Meredith Lopez.

 Third quarter is already notorious for being the hardest quarter because it is the longest, as well as, the most “grey” because of the weather.  Students and teachers usually see a grade drop between second and third quarter.

 “Third quarter is the typical drop. Everyone drops a half or a full letter grade third quarter just because it’s the longest, it’s grey and dreary.  Even without the snow,” said Lopez.

With the snow days, however, it is obvious to say that this year’s third quarter is not an accurate reflection of people’s knowledge, especially with teachers testing on the last few days of the quarter, knowing students would not be able to retake these tests in time for grades to be finalized.

 “I see why they’re doing it because we haven’t had time to do much, but I feel like it’s all so stressful, and I’ll do badly on all of these tests, but you gotta do what you gotta do,” said Heng.

 One test students did not have to take this year was the midterm exam.  Students were beyond elated when they had gotten the call from LCPS public information officer Wayde Byard, and teachers were disappointed to see that the midterms that they had spent weeks preparing had gone to waste.  Seniors, in particular, were perfectly okay with this change because this meant no midterms or finals.  Most juniors and underclassmen, however, were a bit bitter, having realized how well this played out for the seniors.  There is no denying; this year’s seniors are incredibly lucky.

 “They have always had the option to take finals.  It’s just luck that they didn’t have to take their midterms this year,” said junior Mike Birks.  Students have found that even after the cancellation of midterms, the workload has gotten almost unbearable.  At first the challenge was to try to cram about 11 missed days of instruction into an already packed schedule.  Then came the last week of the quarter, in which most teachers tested students.  With tests in the last week of the quarter, the first thing that students realized was that these tests needed to get them the grades they wanted because there would not be any time to retake them in time for grades to be finalized.

 “[There is] More pressure to do well the first time and not rely on the second,” said sophomore Lexi Rubin.

 Contrary to belief, students are not the only ones who are struggling with the workload.  Since most teachers are testing during the last week, this means more things to grade in a short amount of time.

 “I do feel bad, but what were we supposed to do?  Test all of you two weeks ago?  No one was ready two weeks ago; we weren’t even in school two weeks ago,” said Lopez.

 Needless to say, many students and teachers are counting down the final minutes of this quarter when they will finally get a chance to sit down, unwind in front of Netflix, and finally be able to sleep.