This year, the chemistry and physics regents will take place on June 25, just one day before the school year ends.  Since the test dates are set in stone by the state, Townsend Harris faculty has had to make changes to its end of year report card distribution.

The current plan is a provisional report card on the last day of school, followed by an updated report card at a later date. According to Assistant Principal Ellen Fee, chemistry and physics regents grades should be available on Thursday, June 27. Students may pick up their report cards any following Wednesday or wait until the beginning of the next academic year to receive them.

Many students wish their regents exams ended earlier. Junior Ida Dinapoli stated, “I wish it was earlier because I prefer getting things out of the way.” Sophomore Sharon Li shared similar sentiments; “I’d prefer that regents week in general was earlier.” Physics teacher Joshua Raghunath also expressed his concerns: “even though we didn’t have control over the new test date, the extended testing puts prolonged stress on students.”

As the school year concludes, many students want to feel more relaxed. Sophomore Manu Gupta said, “I feel like the end of the year should be more [relaxed] when it comes to school. Having a test in the back of your mind doesn’t really help that.” Physics teacher John Tsai added, “students get tired towards the end of the year and are too tired to study for the regents.”

Still, there is an obvious benefit to the later exams. Sophomore Hans Li described, “I need a lot of time to review old material that I’ve forgotten.” Chemistry teacher Joel Heitman continued, “later [regents] in the testing schedule allows for more review and practice for students, so that is a positive outcome of the later testing date.”