Over the past summer, DGS remodeled the testing center by adding a wall and door to create privacy for students. The location of the testing center has changed over the past two years, from behind the detention room to the 3rd floor C-hallway study loft.

Last school year the testing center had minimal privacy, keeping the space open. There was only a foldable wall that was occasionally closed off to the hallway when students were working on their tests. This school year the testing center is located in the same place as last year but has a wall and a door to help students focus better.

For students to access the testing center, they are required to make an appointment prior to coming, which was implemented in the second semester of last school year. When scheduling a time slot for the testing center students can go to the Student Choice tab and book it there.

Junior Danielle Borchers shares her experience with the scheduling process of the testing center.

“I went to the testing center and I didn’t know we had to make an appointment because it was new…It’s a little bit of a hassle and can be annoying, but overall it works fine because then you know that you have a seat,” Borchers said.

“I feel like the actual wall is beneficial,” Borchers said.

Math teacher Kerri Hayes shares her observations of the effect of students with the set up of the testing center.

“It does get noisy down that hallway. So taking the test and not being distracted, I think, is better with the walls,” Hayes said.

Hayes acknowledges that while she isn’t a student, she as a teacher thinks that the wall is beneficial.

“The math center is right there, so I know when I would drop off tests sometimes, it could be pretty distracting because there was a lot of action in that hallway,” Hayes said.

Senior Andjelina Kostic has a differing view on the subject.

“I think that it can be a bit of a tense environment, and now that it’s a bit more enclosed it can be a bit more stuffy,” Kostic said. “I definitely liked it when it was a lot more open. It made the environment feel a little less closed off.”

Kostic expresses how she thinks the location of the testing center is more convenient for not only herself but her peers.
“When it was moved from the detention room and put up on the third floor, it’s more accessible for the disabled kids,” Kostic said.