Regents Exams

New York City eighth and ninth graders are required to take an examination, the algebra regents, that assesses their level of understanding in algebra. BSGE eighth graders are taking the algebra regents along with the ninth graders from other schools, because they took algebra class a year ahead. The algebra regents take place on June 14 this year, and students are allowed to arrive at school, the place of testing, later than usual, since the regents begins at 1:00pm. New York City eighth and ninth graders will be taking the regents for the first time in their school career, and it will be a transition from the yearly statewide tests that they were taking since third grade.
“I think the regents will be harder than the state tests because it’s on a 9th grade level, but we’re in 8th grade so it might be a little more difficult for us than everyone else,” says eighth grader Brianna Kennedy. However, unlike the New York City statewide tests that begin in the morning and finish in approximately an hour, the algebra regents start early in the afternoon and end at 4:00pm. Some eighth graders are glad for that change; “We don’t have to come in that early, so we’ll be fully rested,” says eighth grader Ergisa Xhuvelli, “And it’s good that we’re getting a long amount of time so there’s no pressure to finish.”
BSGE seventh graders take pre-algebra class to prepare them for the algebra class they will take in the following year. Math teachers Mr. Mehan and Mr. Heine teach this year’s eighth graders and they offer algebra regents prep classes after school, as well as requiring all of their students to study with an algebra regents prep book. These extra steps of preparation allow eighth graders like Luca Cognata to feel particularly confident about taking the algebra regents for the first time. “It doesn’t even matter that we’re taking it a year earlier,” Luca said, “Because we’re getting the same level of preparation as ninth graders in the different schools.”