For all of the AP students who thought they could skip the final, now that AP tests are done, think again. Principal John Dodig sent an email out to all teachers of AP classes on Monday, stating that students must attend their final period and use the time appropriately — in other words, no watching a movie for two hours.

The motive behind the email was to clarify the expectations for these advanced classes on exam day, according to Dodig. “The reason was simply to provide guidelines for all AP teachers to do the same thing with students in their class. It is not healthy for one teacher to say ‘don’t come to class on exam day’ and another teacher to say ‘you must be in class.’ It is nothing profound,” Dodig said.

Quinn Hughes ’16 , an AP U.S. history student, was annoyed by the news, but not all that shocked. “I don’t really know what we are supposed to do to fill the time now that all the work is done, but I mean it is a school day; we are expected to go to school,” he said.

From a teacher’s perspective, AJ Sheets, the head of the Science Department, thought about how a teacher could creatively spend the time, “In a class like AP environmental it may be appropriate for students to go on a field trip for a few hours and maybe do some additional sampling. That would be perfectly reasonable.”

In the social studies wing, department head, James D’amico has developed a theory as to why the email was sent out. “Some teachers are afraid that if they use the period for instructional time, they will get a bad reputation. I haven’t heard of that happening yet and I think most students would understand why teachers would do this, but this is meant to level the playing field,” D’amico said.

Science teacher, Carrie Veigas voiced her concern for what might happen to classes which have been depleted by senior internships. “In my AP physics B class, we have one kid and he is presenting his final on wednesday, so on the day of the final, there is nothing for him to really do,” Veigas said.

Classes with many students lost to senior internships may be excused from the final if they get an okay from a department chair, according to Dodig’s email.