On January 6 students took their first round of State testing for science. Science is not the only state testing students have to take, many more State tests are coming up.

Here is the run down of the state testing schedule for the next couple of months:

• In the beginning of February students will have to take the ELPA test which measures how well students are in reading, writing, listening, and comprehension.

• February 9 seniors who did not pass their SBAC last year have an opportunity to retake them.

• Math SBAC will begin a week after spring break, and the performance task for math will start April 18.

• Students will take the English SBAC around the end of the week April 25 which goes through until the first week of May, following up to May 16 they will also take an English performance task .

All State Tests have to be finished before June 10. Students who did not finish will get their test counted as a fail and non completed.

It is important for students to pass their State Tests because it not only shows kids are on the right track but also gives students who pass with 3’s or 4’s an opportunity to start college with college level classes instead of regular level. Assistant principal Laura Scully said “If kids take the tests seriously and do their best whether or not they pass, it gives us a lot of information about what we can do to improve our work here. It gives us an outside look of our whole program, if we are low on an area it tells us we need to figure out another way to teach the lessons easier to our students.”