The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the school and the community to take precautions on tests and events. The Center for Disease Control, CDC, has recommended that communities should cancel or postpone large meetings or events that are over 10 people. This means gatherings like AP testing and Senior Spectacular have taken precautions for the safety of students and staff. 

SENIOR SPECTACULAR

Senior Spectacular is  an event where the gym is filled with fun activities as seniors stay at the school until midnight. The event was supposed to take place on April 18.  As of Mar. 16, guidance counselor Susan Janes informed seniors through email that the event is now cancelled. All paid tickets will be fully refunded to students. If anyone has any questions about Senior Spectacular, email:  [email protected]

AP TESTS 

The College Board updated students taking an AP course or AP test this year. AP tests will still be taken but they will be online from May 11 to the 22. This also means that there will be no multiple choice questions on any of the exams, and the exams will be limited to free-response questions. In addition, the majority of exams  will also be open book/open notes. The College Board has provided free classes and lessons on their website. The exam will be 45 minutes with an additional 5 minutes to upload, just in case some students have internet problems. The College Board stated that students will have to log in 30 minutes before the exam start time in order to get set up. There are also two ways students can submit their response: typing out their responses or writing out their responses and submitting a photo of it online. For foreign language exams they vary but they will contain free response questions that are spoken; students are not required to do any written responses. You can always find more about the schedule and details of the AP test on the College Board’s website. 

PROM AND GRADUATION 

On April 9, Neuqua released new dates about senior prom and the commencement for seniors. Prom will be taking place Thursday, July 16 at Drury Lane in OakBrook. And the Class of 2020’s commencement will take place a couple of days after on July 18 at Northern Illinois University. Granted there is no prediction on specifically when the curve of COVID-19 will flatten, but students were relieved to hear the news that administration is still planning for both events. Seniors Jessica Patel and Pooja Thakrar were just a few who were ecstatic about the administration’s news. Patel expresses that she was “relieved that I still have a chance to live out some senior moments. And also being able to see my friends one more time before we head out to college.”  Thakrar also follows up that “when [we thought] it was cancelled, it felt like we would never be able to say goodbye. So now I’m glad we have this last chance to say goodbye to everyone and have a fun lasting memory.” There is more information and updates on the student splash page and Neuqua’s instagram: @neuquavalley. 

Despite COVID-19 changing the way we live our lives, educational resources and the Neuqua Valley administration are trying their best to accommodate students’ needs and provide seniors with the opportunity to close out their high school careers.