Starting in the fall 2016 semester, the finals schedule at Naperville North will have a slightly different look:

The main reason for the switch-up of schedule is to move the three lunch periods to the end of each day. Assistant Principal Michele Chapman sees this as a positive change, especially for the issue of transportation.

According to Chapman, having academic periods at the beginning of each day ensures all students can take their typical transportation to school for finals.

While the new schedule allows students to be driven or take the bus as normal for final exams, students who drive without a parking pass also benefit from it. Junior Emily Kurland is very happy about the change because of the greater accessibility to parking spots off campus.

“The change in lunch periods is extremely beneficial as I don’t have to worry about getting a spot because everyone will have to be there at the start of the day,” Kurland said.

According to Chapman, another reason for the unexpected change is to benefit students academically.

“Having lunch periods at the end of the exam periods will allow students to stay at school and study for their next exam,” said Chapman.

While this change is supposed to be helpful overall, for many students, the schedule’s positive or negative effects come down to studying preferences.

Sophomore Max Zhang said he would much rather have a period at school before his exams that day to study for them rather than one after for the following day. Contrarily, Emily Kurland doesn’t think she would cram in the morning for a test she has that day.

Disregarding the overall changes to the organization of final periods, scheduling can be inconvenient simply because students end up having multiple difficult tests on one day, but Chapman explained that problems like this can be solved.

“Students will have the same opportunities as they have in the past – if they have three difficult exams on the same day, they can meet with me to make adjustments,” Chapman said.