Campus Surprised by Early Principal’s Day

Shouts echoed throughout the hallway of Phillips Hall Monday afternoon as Exonians checked their emails only to discover that Principal Tom Hassan had declared Tuesday, January 27, the Academy’s 64th Principal’s Day. While many students ran excitedly to friends, others winced; the Exeter holiday, an annual tradition usually reserved for a warm, spring day, would occur on the day that winter storm Juno was expected to hit campus.

“For the past few days we have been closely monitoring the approaching snowstorm,” Hassan said in an email addressed to the entire Academy community. “Snowfall is anticipated to be very heavy, with high winds contributing to low visibility.”

In preparation for Juno, The National Weather Service had released a blizzard notice for Tuesday through early Wednesday morning, and much of the Northeast braced for one of the worst storms ever experienced.

Harkening back to February, 1952, when Principal Saltonstall began the tradition of Principal’s Day on a “four-S policy of sun, snow, sleep and surprise,” Hassan announced a similar day of no classes, athletic practices or music lessons.

One of the biggests factors put into the decision to cancel a day of school was student, faculty and staff safety. Due to the “severity” of the storm, Hassan did not feel it was appropriate to demand students and teachers to work through the day or force off-campus faculty to drive to school.

Since 20 percent of the student body is composed of day students and a sufficient portion of faculty and staff live off campus, many members of the community, such as English instructor Ellen Wolff, supported Hassan’s decision and were glad he was willing to close school for the sake of safety.

“I will think creatively to see if there are ways this spring to give some relief as well...I don't have any other comments at this time, but I hear loudly that students want to have some time this spring and will keep that in mind.”

“It’s going to be important for as few people to be on the road as possible,” Wolff explained. “Hassan and his staff are much more up-to-date on the weather forecast and the storm’s severity than I am. If in doubt about safety, cancelling classes is the way to go.”

Dean of Faculty Ronald Kim echoed Wolff’s thoughts. Experiencing the blizzard “confirmed the wisdom of [the] decision” for him. “Snow and bad weather are not unusual for this area, but our understanding was that this was a powerful and hazardous storm,” he said.

However, many Exonians were surprised by the decision to cancel classes. As is the nature of a boarding school, the majority of students and teachers live on campus. For this reason and in accordance with the Academy’s intense academic standard, classes are generally cancelled for only part of the day and those situations still remain rare. Even during the Great Blizzard of 1978, Exeter was the only school in New England to hold classes, many of which were conducted under candlelight.

Some faculty, students and alumni were even upset with the decision. According to Hassan, Exeter’s history of few snow days prides many alumni and some reached out to Hassan, saying that he had “gone soft in cancelling classes.”

Faculty also noted the academic difficulties that could arise since many were not prepared for the sudden loss of class time. Science instructor Townley Chisholm explained that he expects the loss of two fat block classes to challenge him, especially with the already hectic term schedule. However, Chisholm did not oppose the decision. He knows safety is a top priority for the Academy.

“I understand that Mr. Hassan was very justifiably concerned about the safety of students and employees and that concern had to be uppermost,” Chisholm said. “And probably the governor would have given him a hard time if she shut down the state government and he didn’t close the school.”

Hassan also recognized the different “rhythm” of this school year. With multiple periods of time off for faculty and strategic planning, Hassan decided to use Principal’s Day as a way to prevent eliminating too many classes.

Although Principal’s Day originated because of a severe storm, the tradition has been upheld more recently in the past through a day off in the spring. Many students felt they were being deprived from the full experience of Principal’s Day because of the poor weather conditions.

“Normally I'm out on the quad playing frisbee or football [on Principal’s Day], and obviously I can’t really do that today,” said senior Andrew Poggione.

Poggione continued to explain that turning Principal’s Day into a snow day also weakened the sense of surprise and excitement.

“It’s usually really exciting to guess what day will be Principal’s Day and trying to figure out principal Hassan’s riddles, but using Principal’s Day for a snow day really changes the whole environment,” he said. “I feel like there is much less excitement around the school.”

Hassan recognized the opinions of students upset by the decision and hinted at a possible alternative event in the spring to similarly provide relief.

“I will think creatively to see if there are ways this spring to give some relief as well,” Hassan said. “I don't have any other comments at this time, but I hear loudly that students want to have some time this spring and will keep that in mind.”

Like students and faculty, staff members were expected to take the day off. While most buildings were closed for the storm, some, such as the library and Love Gym, remained open through the storm; they were staffed, albeit with limited members and hours. The staff clearly had the students in mind when they decided to keep these facilities open amidst the poor weather conditions.

For the Academy Librarian Gail Scanlon, it was a personal decision to keep the library open on Principal’s Day. “I told the rest of the staff to not come in because they needed to be home and safe and to take care of their kids,” she said.

Scanlon saw how important keeping such facilities open could be, especially on a day off for students.

“It’s just after midterm so there may be a pretty good need for using the library,” she said, adding that she chose to come in “for the students, and I am happy to do it when I can.”

For staff members of essential facilities, however, there was no choice but to come into campus, even in difficult road conditions. Consequently, many students and faculty joined members of the staff, helping them shovel snow to clear the roads around campus to show their thanks.

Both Principal Hassan and Dean Kim later extended separate “thank you’s” to those who helped, noting the importance of supporting those who had to work throughout the day.

“They endured difficult travel conditions to get to work to make sure that we had hot food in the dining halls, hot showers in the dorms, safe paths to walk on and access to the library, gym, health center and Academy Center,” Kim reminded us. “A lot of people worked very hard for many hours, and they deserve our thanks.”

Contriubtions by Annie Ning

Take a look at the Principal's Day 2015 Gallery here: http://media.theexonian.com/20142015/Winter-2015-Blizzard/