Classes Cancelled on Two Wednesdays for Strategic Planning

Classes will be cancelled on Wednesday, October 8 and 29 to allow faculty to convene for a strategic planning meeting.While students will not contribute directly to the discussion, they will be included through a Harkness-style assembly Tuesday, Oct. 7th.After the class schedule was set over the summer, Principal Tom Hassan decided to dedicate two Wednesdays to a strategic planning conversation, a continuation from the first meeting this August. According to Director of Studies Laura Marshall, one class from each format will be cancelled, bringing the total format tally for the term down by one.Many students expressed concern that by removing Wednesday classes in the fall, Saturday classes would be used to make up for missed formats. However, Marshall explained that the cancellations will not alter the overall schedule and that, therefore, Saturday classes, will not be added or changed.“This did not cause us to have more Saturday classes than previously planned,” Marshall said. “After the schedule was decided, the principal decided to devote these two days to strategic planning. We would have had nine Saturday classes regardless.”History instructor Giorgio Secondi, one of the faculty members who helped organize the Wednesday sessions, said that the discussions will revolve around the topic of goodness on campus and ways for the Academy community members to embody it.“We will focus on goodness at Exeter—what we mean by it, and whether we can study it and teach it,” Secondi said. “We scheduled these two days in the fall so as to waste no time making progress toward shaping a vision for the future of the school.”Dean of Students Melissa Mischke said that the faculty members will brainstorm during the two Wednesdays to consider new ideas and plans that will help the Academy progress. She noted, however, that no specific outlines or projects will be created until the new principal takes over.“We’re thinking about some of the bigger things, concepts and issues as a collective faculty, but we’re not going to come up with a detailed strategic plan without the guidance of the principal,” she said.Mischke said that during the Wednesdays dedicated to strategic planning, students will only need to attend their music lessons. She added that new students will be required to participate in a library mini-golf event.“We used to do library tours in the first week of orientation,” Mischke said,“but we’ve pulled that out, and [the library staff] wanted to come up with something more interesting and fun, so they’ve come up with library mini golf.”Dean of Residential Life and physics instructor AJ Cosgrove said that most students will, and should, take advantage of a day without classes by sleeping, because Tuesday nights before the two Wednesdays will have regular check-in hours. He also added that seniors will probably “get college applications completed, [and] hopefully, the remaining couple of extra hours will be used constructively.”Students agreed with Cosgrove and said that they will find a variety of ways to spend two free Wednesdays, from catching up on sleep to getting ahead on their work to spending the day off campus.Senior Jonathan Regenold said that the Wednesdays will be a pleasant break from schoolwork for students. He particularly emphasized that the extra time off will be beneficial for seniors going through the college process.“Having these Wednesdays free as of now is especially useful for the seniors who are busy during fall term because of college applications,” he said.Senior Holden Hammontree echoed Regenold’s sentiments and said that he will take advantage of the Wednesdays to go on college visits.“The no class Wednesday seems like it could be pretty huge,” Hammontree said. “It could really change the quality of life, getting to wake up late and relax for a little while before sports. I am planning on visiting a college out of state.”Like Hammontree, upper Rebecca Ju anticipated that the free Wednesdays are well-deserved free time for students and great opportunities for teachers to collaborate productively.“It [will be] a refreshing break, and it gives students something to look forward to,” Ju said. “And it’s a good way to hold faculty workshops without overwhelming the teachers too.”While many were grateful for the extra time, they remained skeptical of the necessity for faculty to spend two days on strategic planning discussions, thus upsetting the schedules and set-up of two weeks this fall. Some said that the decision to take away class time for a faculty discussion is not only avoidable but also unfair for the students.“I think it’s a little silly, even though I’m glad to have a day off,” upper Margaux Morris said. “When students need to do something, we're expected to make time outside of class, and I think the faculty should, too. A meeting on a Sunday or after classes would be less disruptive.”Some students felt that teachers will see this as a chance to assign more homework in place of the lost class time.“I wonder if teachers will assign more homework because of the extra time we are given,” upper Zanny Merullo said, “or if they will leave us the day to take a break from our hard work and sleeplessness.”Merullo also said that, though the time off will provide students chances to rest and recharge, since Wednesdays are half-days normally, the cancellation of Wednesday classes will not impact student life significantly.“It is nice to have a break during the middle of the week, but since Wednesdays are often short anyways, I’m not sure how much of a difference it will make.”If teachers don’t burden students with excessive homework, Merullo said that it will be a win-win situation for both the students and the teachers.“Teachers get time to improve the quality of the school, and students get a much-needed day off.”