The workload for students at CHS is never supposed to be easy. But last year, during my first year of high school, I was swamped by the workload. I would have days with three or four summative tests in multiple classes, then I would have only one assessment or nothing at all the next.

It’s a given that coursework, assessments and quizzes need to be challenging, but when students are taking multiple rigorous courses, this work can add up quickly and become overwhelming. To combat the immense workload at CHS, the summative assessment schedule has been reintroduced for the 2015-2016 school year.

Reintroducing the summative assessment schedule is a necessary change for students as it relieves some test anxiety by spacing out assessments and enabling students to plan their study time more efficiently.

The schedule assigns each department specific days for summative assessments, with the intent to remove some of the stress that comes with those assessments.

According to Principal Joan Benz, the schedule was in place during the 2013-2014 school year, but after a student survey was taken, the majority of students felt it was not helpful. However, data taken from a student survey in the 2014-2015 school year stated that students felt it would be helpful to have the schedule again.

The students’ initial disapproval may have been becausesome teachers did not follow the schedule. In doing so, they only increased the overlapping of assessments. In addition, some teachers took advantage of the fact that the schedule only applied to summative assessments, which left formative assignments to conflict in different classes.

Reimplementing the summative assessment schedule allows students to plan their time better. When summative assessments are spread throughout the week, students have more time to study and fully comprehend what’s going to be on the test and can plan out their studying according to what days they have tests.

The schedule also removes some of the stress surrounding summative assessments. The summative category is usually the heaviest weighted grading category and therefore impacts students’ grades the most. This means that those assessments are the bulk of students’ worries. Spreading them throughout the week so they don’t pile up is the most efficient way to relieve some of the pressure CHS students constantly feel.