A week in the life of a Staples student is much like the month of March; it comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb. Checking Schoology on a Saturday night to see three tests and a presentation in the first two days of the week can ruin one’s weekend. Then, this chaotic beginning of the week is often followed by three workless days.

A student should never have to ruin their weekend because mere coincidences and misfortune landed their biggest assignments of the week right on top of eachother. With these assignments more spread out, students can be less overwhelmed and be better prepared for school.

The majority of tests, and other assessments, come from the core classes. If these classes only tested on designated days, there would be less buildup of work, and allow students adequate time to plan and study.

When I find myself with multiple large assessments the next day, I unfortunately pick favorites. I end up focusing my time on the subjects I am most interested in, or believe are most important, resulting in worse performance in the classes that didn’t make the cut that night.

School assessments are in place for the purpose of evaluating how well a student is grasping the subjects of a class. Being overwhelmed by multiple assessments and assignments can make these evaluations a misrepresentation of a students’ knowledge.

This feeling of being overwhelmed goes beyond the preparation for tests, in fact, your brain feeling overworked or strained can affect the pace at which you can work and even the quality of your thinking.

Staples High School should consider giving the core subject areas certain days to do testing; For example: Monday and Tuesday designated for the maths and sciences, and Thursday and Friday for English and history classes.

This structure not only prevents a student from having overloaded parts of the week, but it additionally creates better efficiency of student time and encourages more balanced schedules.

A student’s workload will be consistent when the large assessments are more spread out, giving a more predictable schedule; with more cohesive studying, and even creating better sleeping habits.

There is simply no reason for a student to be burdened by three tests in one day. A simple change to the structure of school testing can phase out this possibility, and create more consistency in Staples students’ workloads.