In recent years, Pomfret students completed final exams in ninety-minute blocks during the last week of the term. Many faced as many as three exams in a single day, with assessment styles varying widely across disciplines. By week’s end, students were often exhausted, and their performance did not always reflect their true understanding.

“Having six traditional exams in a single week was not consistent with Pomfret’s philosophy of teaching and learning,” says Gwyneth Connell, director of the Grauer Family Institute. “We’re also a school that prioritizes cultivating habits of well-being. We want our students to get plenty of rest during exam week.”

With these goals in mind, Pomfret’s Teaching and Learning Community, comprising department heads and academic administrators, introduced a reimagined end-of-term assessment schedule this year.

In the final week of classes leading into the exam period, students in English and History & Social Sciences courses completed essays, presentations, and projects that reflected their learning throughout the term. Front-loading these Humanities assessments allowed students to focus more deeply on their work and gave faculty additional time to review submissions and provide meaningful feedback.

During the exam period, all students sat for World Languages and Mathematics exams early in the week — a format that mirrors the cumulative assessments common in colleges. These exams allow faculty to identify gaps in foundational skills before progressing to more complex concepts. “When I was teaching French, it was important for me to know that my students could conjugate être and avoir before moving on to advanced topics,” Connell explains.

Throughout the week, students enrolled in Science courses participated in ninety-minute summative lab experiences or traditional exams. “In creating the new schedule, it was important for students to have the opportunity to apply their knowledge through hands-on experiences,” Connell adds.

Interwoven with these academic assessments were end-of-term events that, in prior years, were often squeezed into lunch periods or tacked onto the end of long exam days.

The Arts Experience showcased dance, music, visual art, theater, and film. The afternoon began with a dance performance, followed by a tour of the gallery and performance spaces to celebrate the breadth of artistic work produced throughout the term.

As in previous years, students in Wellbeing courses shared their learning at the Wellbeing Fair through poster presentations. The fair was followed by the Independent Study Showcase, where students presented the research and creative projects they pursued throughout the term.

The schedule also carved out intentional time for underclass students to meet with their Mastery Learning Record (MLR) Guides. Freshmen and sophomores reviewed their progress from the fall term and began uploading evidence to their learning record — a process they will continue at the end of each subsequent term. Ultimately, students may choose to share their learning record with college admission officers as a supplement to their transcript, providing a distinctive window into their growth at Pomfret.

While the underclassmen met with their MLR guides, juniors spent time learning more about the College Counseling Office. This opportunity gave them the chance to get to know the faculty better before being assigned to their counselor in the winter term.

“We are excited to see how this new schedule benefits the School community,” says Connell. “We’ll use feedback from both faculty and students to make this time even more effective in the winter and spring terms.”
 

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