High school students will begin taking a new standardized test next week. 

Students in 9th-11th grade will take the Keystone Exams for the first time. 

The Keystone Exams will put an end to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) at the high school level. 

Up until the 2011-2012 school year, 11th grade students were taking the PSSA's. 

Starting next week high school students will be tested in algebra, literature and biology. 

6 News spoke with teachers at the DuBois Area Senior High School to see what they think about the new exams. 

"It is exciting, because I really believe the Keystone exams create a great opportunity for our kids because they're end of course exams," said high school principal, Roger Collins. 

On Wednesday afternoon, teachers and faculty members had a final meeting in preparation for the exams next week. School officials said that the district has been preparing its students for the exams over the last several months.

"I really like these Keystone exams because they're really focused on one area and that's algebra one. The PSSA's were more open to interpretation with algebra, geometry and statistics, "said math teacher, John Wayne. 

"I'm hoping that the Keystone exam gives us the data that we need as teachers, and is really going to point to us where we need to improve, what we need to do to make things better," said English teacher, Sam Bundy. 

The guidelines for the exam show that students have to score either proficient or advanced in all three subjects. Collins said it will be a challenge at first, but the good thing is, kids can re-test.

"If the students are not proficient or advanced this year in wave one in January or December they can re-test again in May of this school year before they leave for summer," Collins said. 

Even though there are some perks, teachers said students are still nervous. 

"They are nervous about things such as 'we took that course two years ago.' How are we going to remember what we did?" Bundy said.

The exam will come in three waves. School officials said the students will test next week, in January and again in May. Even though it is something new, Collins said they are up for the challenge. 

"I feel good that they're going to do well on this test and I'm excited not only about them taking the test, but the results," Collins said. 

The Keystone exams will only be taken by high school students. 

The Class of 2017 will be the first graduating class where students will need to score proficient or advanced in all three sections in order to graduate. 

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