By: Astor Wu ’20

The fall semester will end on Jan. 20. Students will receive grades and eighth graders will receive comments from their teachers. Students reflect on their performance to prepare for second semester
“At first I was really disorganized, but then I got the hang of it after meeting with teachers. Second semester is [about] carrying out what we did this year and learning from being disorganized,” Chelsea Cho ‘21 said.
In early December, all ninth graders received comments from both their core class and elective teachers. Students said they find comments both helpful and stressful to receive.
“The comments are helpful for me because I know in which classes I really need to put more work into and what I do well in,” Philip Moon ’20 said.
In the past, students have taken midterms in the Marshall Center, but this year, there is no official midterm schedule at the Middle School. However, there were still informal midterms, commonly in honors classes.
“I think it’s actually good that we don’t have official midterms for all of [our classes] so it’s technically less pressure. I think the studying is more stressful if you have [midterms] for all classes,” Daisy Wan ’20 said.
Mainly, ninth graders take midterms. However, younger students enrolled in ninth grade courses may have midterms as well.
“[Midterms] are based on the whole year, so that’s helpful so then you can review the stuff that you learned three months ago. You’ll be more prepared for the final at the end of the year,” Tali Tufeld ’20 said.