What You Need to Know About Grade 8 Finals

Timeline:

Friday, June 16 - LA Final - 10 am start time
Monday, June 19 - Math Final - 12:45 pm start time
Tuesday, June 20 - Science Final - 12:45 pm start time
Wednesday, June 21 - National Indigenous Peoples Day - NO Exams
Thursday, June 22 - Social Final - 12:45 pm start time
Friday, June 23 - Classes/Summer Splash
Monday, June 26 - Calaway Park
Tuesday, June 27 - Farewell Assembly

Importance:

Experiencing finals is an important milestone for students as they head into the final years of their K-12 education. This group of students has not experienced a cumulative final due to Covid and other interruptions. Next year, they will be tasked with taking the Grade 9 PATs. Our goal with this year’s finals is to ensure that students have an accurate experience that will prepare them for the next step in their education journey, while still giving them as much support and opportunity to display their skills as possible.

Final exams are weighted at 15% of their Math/Science overall grade and 10% of LA/Social. As a reminder, here is the Honours breakdown for R.I. Baker Middle School:

• Honours 79.5% - 84.4%
• Honours with Distinction 84.5% - 89.9%
• Honours with Great Distinction 90% and above

Finals Week (June 19 - June 22):

For the week of the exams, regular class scheduling will stop in order to ensure Grade 8 students have as much opportunity to review and prepare as possible. If you feel your child will be more productive with independent study time at home, the mornings of the week of June 19, 20, and 22 will not require mandatory attendance. Students are expected to still be engaging in review activities even if they are absent from school during these mornings. Students absent during these mornings must be excused on Edsby by their parents. We also ask that students only come at either 8:20am (normal morning time) or 12:21pm (normal afternoon time) to avoid students trickling in throughout the morning while PAT exams are happening. They should come in through the Grade 8 entry door at either 8:20 am or 12:21 pm. 

Students will have options for study rooms, whether they be in a more quiet, individual focused room or more active group study room.  Rooms will be made available during the morning. Students will be given a schedule of what teachers/rooms will be available in advance. Teachers will be available for questions and will provide a space to study all morning; no additional structured review will be given during this finals week. Students are not required to be present in the morning if they feel that being at home will better prepare them for the afternoon’s exam. 

The students who attend in the mornings of June 19, 20 and 22 will begin in their Homeroom where attendance will be taken. They will then move to their chosen study room, sign in and are expected to stay in that room for the morning. Teachers will have a photocopied list of where every student will be for the morning. If there is any need to change rooms, they must sign out with the teacher in that room and sign in with the teacher of their new room. Changing rooms is not encouraged, unless it’s deemed necessary at teacher discretion. 

Day Of:

Some things to know about the day of:

• Bring:

• 2 sharpened pencils
• Eraser
• Water Bottle to store on the floor 
• Non-sticky snack
• A calculator for Math and Science
• A book or blank paper to entertain you after you finish
• Friday, June 16th :
• This will be normal Friday attendance for Periods 1 - 3.
• During Period 3, students will go to the bathroom and do any preparations they need in this class.
• They will then enter Room 211 or 212, where exams are taking place.
• They are expected to remain in their designated room until their exam is complete. 
• This Final Exam will begin at 10 am.
• Monday, June 19; Tuesday, June 20; Thursday, June 22:

• Students need to arrive by 12:21 pm and will begin in their Homeroom to take attendance. 
• Within their Homeroom, they will go to the bathroom and do any preparations they need in this room.
• They will then enter Room 211 or 212, where exams are taking place.
• They are expected to remain in their designated room until their exam is complete.
• These Final Exams will begin at 12:45 pm. 

• In General:

• Students will be directed to find the desk with their name on it. 
• Cell phone rules for our school will still apply; cell phones/smart watches will NOT be allowed in the classroom.
• Students with accommodations will go to their designated space in the school.
• ALL Final Exams are 2-hours in length.

• Students must remain in the room for the duration of the exam. 

• Thirty minutes of additional time will be available if students are still writing after the 2-hour mark.

• ALL finals will be on Chromebooks. Paper copies of all exams will be available upon request.
• Students will be sharing a room with another class, so with 50+ students in the room, silence is absolutely required.
• A subject teacher will be back and forth between the two connected rooms. Students are allowed to ask questions of any adult in the room, though they may choose to ask the subject-specific teacher as they come around. 
• Students are expected to stay until the typical end-of-school day; 3:30 pm. They are NOT to sign out early.

Expectations Beforehand:

An important expectation held about all of the finals is that students are studying at home as we lead up to the end of June. As the exams are cumulative, there is a lot of content to review since September.

Students that know in advance they will not be present for exam week will need to communicate with the subject teacher and will be given a make-up day the week before. If a student misses their exam day, they will be expected to make it up the next available morning. All finals need to be written by Friday, June 23 at 12:26 pm. 

Please direct any further questions to the Grade 8 Teaching Team or Administration.