I want to remind all parents that we have a progressive philosophy with regard to final exams. We scale our expectations by grade level to prepare students for the rigor of high school. Additionally, we are mandated to perform final examinations in each subject area per New York State Mandate. Every teacher has something called a "Student Learning Objective" (or SLO) that contributes to a portion of their (teachers) end of the year evaluation.
As parents you have likely heard much about teachers' APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review) process. It has dominated our political landscape in recent weeks. Students' final exams are one piece of this.
Aside from the mandate by NYS, we value these exams for the right reasons. The exams provide us an opportunity to gauge students' mastery of material and make necessary adjustments to curriculum. These exams are one piece of many that teachers collaborate on with their subject area supervisors to assess and re-evaluate curriculum each year. Schools like Bethlehem annually have summer curriculum projects that teachers work on and these are driven (in part or entirely) by the data we get back from students' performance.
Our Testing Schedule:
Tuesday, June 16
- Grades 6,7, 8 Art Final Exam (only for students taking Art in the 4th quarter)
- Grades 6,7, 8 Music Final Exam (only for students taking Music in the 4th quarter)
- Grade 7 Science Part I
Wednesday, June 17
- Grade 7 Science Part II
- Regents Exam - Common Core Algebra (accelerated students in grades 7 and 8 taking algebra)
Thursday, June 18
- Grades 6,7, 8 Math Final Exam Part I
- Grade 8 Social Studies Final Exam
- Grade 7 Science Part III
Friday, June 19
- Grade 6,7, 8 Math Final Exam Part II
- Grade 6 Social Studies Exam
- Regents Exam in Geometry (for accelerated 8th grade students taking geometry)
Monday, June 22
- Grade 7 Social Studies Final Exam
- Grade 7 Technology Final Exam
- Grade 6 Science Final Exam
- Grade 8 World Language Proficiency Exam
Tuesday, June 23
- Grade 7 Math Challenge Exam (Opt in exam for students wanting to accelerate in Math)
Wednesday, June 24
- Grade 6 Math Challenge Exam (Opt in exam for students wanting to accelerate in Math)
Reminders - Dismissal Schedule June 22-25
- Monday, June 22 is a full day of school
- Tuesday, June 23 is a full day of school
- 6th Grade has its town park day
- 8th Grade field trip to the Great Escape
- Wednesday, June 24 is a half day
- All students dismiss at 11:10
- Normal Bus transportation is available
- Thursday, June 25 is a half day
- Grade 8 has its Moving Up Ceremony
- All 8th grade students arrive to the MS at their normal time
- All 8th grade students can leave the ceremony from the High School with their parents
- Transportation back to the MS is provided for any students who need it
- Grades 6 and 7 Dismiss at 11:10
- Normal Bus transportation is available
Any parents who have questions about the schedules above should contact our main office
(439-7460) or send email to specific teachers.
To email a teacher using the Aspen Portal
1. Log in
2. Click on the "Academics" top tab
3. Select the correct student (if you have multiple students in district)
4. Go to the "Options" menu
5. Select "Send Email"
6. Click on the "X" next to any staff member you do NOT want the email to be sent to
