Hassan Releases Tentative Schedule

More springtime Saturday classes and a shortened Thanksgiving break are in the works for the academic schedule for the 2014-2015 school year. Principal Tom Hassan released the proposed calendar to faculty members earlier this month, noting that in order to have graduation on the first weekend of June and to keep all three terms equal, more springtime Saturday classes were necessary.“E/A in the winter is very late—Feb. 28,” Hassan explained. “This moved March break to a different point in the week, as it will begin on a Friday. This, in conjunction with an effort to have Graduation on June 7 rather than a week later, necessitated an increased number of Saturday classes in the spring over this year.”In all, there will be nine Saturday classes next year, with four of those landing in the spring 2015 term. In comparison, this year will bring one Saturday class spring term. The news has left many uppers riled up about how their senior spring is being compromised.“As an upper who’s going to have four Saturday classes senior spring, I figure every week can be senior skip Saturday right?” upper Emily Lemmerman said. “I think it might be worse for uppers because they have to still be in serious work mode through the spring and then have Saturday classes on top of that. I definitely hope though that in future years this doesn’t have to happen again.”Upper Jake Willett agreed. “It’s not going to be as fun for us uppers next year for senior spring. It’s supposed to be the best term that everybody waits four years for,” Willett said. “Not just for the students, but also for the teachers who will miss their kids’ lacrosse and baseball games all spring.”Some faculty members were concerned about the impact the addition of Saturday classes would have on the campus. “It will be challenging to go back on what had been a typical Saturday class schedule,” science instructor David Gulick said. “There had been a significant number of Saturday classes before, and I know they cut it, but the administration had their purposes—balancing needs.”Upper Benj Cohen, the secretary of Student Council, wished that the students were advised about the addition of Saturday classes before decisions were made by the administration. “I really wish the issue had been brought to students through Student Council so the student body could brainstorm with the administration to find a more optimal solution.”On the bright side, students will be able to have a longer summer after a hard spring, the only price being a few homework filled Friday nights and class filled Saturday mornings.Thanksgiving break will be short—only a week and a half—and was not changed from this year’s schedule. According to Hassan, “Thanksgiving is again later in the month next year, so this means that in order to maintain equal trimesters, Thanksgiving break needs to be again one week long in order to have enough time for the winter term.”International Student Coordinator Christine Knapp, from her experience, said that she believes Thanksgiving break is never good for international students. “No matter the length, some students will have a difficult time. Many international students do not want to go home at Thanksgiving because two trips so close together is difficult for those who have considerable time changes,” she said. “In particular, students from Asia have a hard time.”Many international students echoed Knapp’s sentiments. Weihang Fan, a lower from China, argued that the shortened break has not been made up for yet. “I think it is unusual to have more classes without any compensation in terms of free time,” he said.In addition to having these concerns, others believed that the trips to and from school were simply not economical. “Being an international student, it wasn't that great because the cost of flights for such a short amount of time at home wasn't really worth it,” upper Sophia Collis from Bermuda said.The biggest concern for some international students with great distances to travel, however, was dealing with jet lag when they get home for Thanksgiving, coming back, and having to deal with it again a few weeks later, during winter break. “I find it very difficult to go back home during Thanksgiving break because it is so short,” lower Jun Park said.This year, to assist students who did not wish to go home, the Office of Multicultural Affairs helped students find host families, day students and domestic boarding students, who could provide them with a place to stay and the care of a family over break.Knapp believed that this endeavor went smoothly, thanks to the help of kind Exonians. “This year, all students who approached me were invited home with Academy friends,” she said. “Perhaps the shorter break makes it more appealing to host families. International students would much rather stay with the family of a friend.”Knapp continued, “Staying with strangers can be exhausting—they have to be ‘on,’ and it is another new situation. For them to go to the home of a friend is much more appealing because they need to rest and recover from the first term.”To the delight of some upset international students, Hassan brought hope for the following years that the break in fall could be lengthened again. “There have been times with the Thanksgiving break is two weeks, and there will be a time when that happens again because of when it falls in the overall calendar,” he said.