Finals are coming up right around the corner, with staff and students preparing. Finals are exams that students complete at the end of a semester, and they are a major part of students’ final grades that go onto the college transcript. Finals are such a big portion of students’ grades, that if they don’t do well on the final it will significantly affect their grade, and that will stay with them forever. The problem is, if students are taking the final in a class they struggle in or aren’t ready to test will damage their grade and will appear on their transcript. 

Because of this problem BHS staff has come up with a finals opt out. Students can opt out of a class final, if they have a certain grade along with not having a certain amount of absences or tardies. This gives students a chance to not have the major test in a class they aren’t ready to test in and will keep their grade up. Students can opt out of one elective and one core class, with teacher and parent permission. This is BHS’s first year of doing final opt outs to hopefully help the students, along with keeping their grades up to go in on their transcript for college.

I think this is a very important and helpful way of finishing the semester with a good grade. Some students struggle in certain classes and aren’t ready to test in that area, so this is very helpful and a good way to help students to succeed. I think it should have been considered  sooner, so other students could have also gotten this chance in the previous years.