Here at Greeley West, it has been tradition for seniors to wrap up their classes a week before all the underclassmen.  They take their finals a week early and that allows the administration to determine who is graduating and who is not.  But so far, there has been no announcement that this will be the same policy this year.  I’ve asked some teachers about it and some rather it not happen this year.

With our quarterly schedules, some teachers believe that the extra week of classes could be beneficial for seniors to be taught lessons fully and thoroughly. Some teachers also say that our quarters are short enough and there’s really no reason to allow seniors to be done a week earlier than others. However, some teachers also say to allow the seniors to carry on the tradition. 

Although some of the teachers argue that during the extra week off seniors do nothing and could spend that time learning in the classroom…do seniors really do nothing? Many seniors use that time to prepare for graduation and do last minute running around to make sure they have everything for graduation ready such as paying fees, taking senior pictures and making sure caps and gowns fit. If students are still in school up until that time, they may not have enough time to make sure they’re completely prepared for graduation.

Seniors leaving early could also benefit the environment of Greeley West by reducing class sizes for a week and the traffic congesteion. During the school year, seniors have taken as few as one or two classes per quarter and 25% of seniors have decided to graduate early already.  Does one week really matter at this point?