The Traditional Exam Schedule is Restored

In contrast to the usual January exam week, the Upper School began the 2025-2026 school year with plans to host exams in all academic disciplines spread out between December and March.

On October 16, Head of Upper School Brooke Depelteau sent an email to parents and guardians announcing the return to the January exam period.

In this message, Depelteau said that after much reflection, she and a team of school leaders concluded that “shifting the exam dates without making other holistic changes to the structure of our program and school day created unintended consequences and conflicts.” Thus, exams ran from Tuesday, January 20 to Saturday, January 24.

Assistant Head of Upper School Kate Mitchell provided students with planner inserts to correct the information for days that have been affected by the switch.

After the Upper School Office announced the return to the January exam week, Paige Wollenhaupt ’27 expressed her excitement since she had been nervous about the other schedule arrangement. She remarked, “Now the stress I often feel during exams is consolidated into one week in- stead of being spread out across four months.”

Similarly, Isabel Grisius ’26 was “happy that she can do all of [her] exams in one week.”

Students had to review material spanning back to September. In preparation, each subject had two full class periods allocated for review and answering questions. The "reading day" typically held on the Friday before exams did not fully happen due to scheduling conflicts. Outside of school, students studied both at home or at a cafe or library with friends.