Missed a test? The testing center is open for business

Sam Sumski
December 15, 2022

Testing centers reopened on campus the week of Nov. 14 before and after school Monday through Thursday. After a pause since last year, students now can make up missed tests due to absences and other reasons. Funding originally came from state-provided COVID-19 funding, and is now supported with recent grant money.

Focusing on their tests, students in room 258 make up tests on Monday morning that were missed in the week prior.

The center accommodates all academic subjects. The teacher whose test was missed supplies the test to the teacher running the testing center that morning, who administers the test to the student.  

Math teacher Grace Heard is grateful for the testing center’s return, as she can now separate the students who need individual help in SMART from students who need to make up tests. 

“For the past few months, SMART period has been crazy. Everybody needs me at this time and there is only one of me and there could be up to 30 students in my room,” Heard said.

SMART period is intended for students to receive assistance from their teachers, varying from homework help, test corrections and general confusion. Heard emphasized that with her attention focused on the students who need help, students taking tests in the same room are more able to cheat.

“While my attention is focused on helping a student, I can’t be on the other side of the classroom monitoring the students taking tests,” Heard said. 

This is one of the main reasons why the testing centers have reopened: to improve the experiences of students and teachers by separating testing and teaching during the tutorial period.

Math teacher Allison Kristal expressed many of the same perspectives as Heard. She runs the testing c

In room 261, working on a math exam in the testing center, a student makes up a previously missed test.

enter in her classroom at certain times during the week, and has found that the testing center genuinely helped her and the students.

“The testing center is a really great way to provide the students with a quiet testing environment as opposed to the SMART period,” Kristal said, “This has also helped me become more organized in the SMART period by helping all of my students.”

Considering the testing center’s impact thus far, Kristal is optimistic that its benefits will continue.

“The center is here to stay for the rest of the year and, hopefully, for a long time after,” Kristal said.