Committee Considers Offering Post-Graduates Better Support

A committee dedicated to evaluating graduation requirements of one-year seniors and post graduates (PGs) at Exeter will make a final report to the principal this year that will likely recommend offering PGs more support in their transitions to Exeter.The committee spent the past few years surveying one-year seniors and PGs, talking to admissions officers, academic deans and college counselors and comparing the graduation requirements of Exeter’s PGs at sister schools. While the committee hasn’t announced what it will do with its findings yet, it will hear input from faculty, so action has yet to come.Many PGs said they find it difficult to integrate themselves into the Exeter community at first, since they have to adjust to the Harkness style, work through the college process and particularly make friends within a community of students who have known one another for years. Moreover, PGs are often surrounded by stereotypes of being less capable students than those who arrive at the Academy earlier.

“They are used to being at the top of the class at their old schools, just in the way that our ninth graders are, but they don’t have four years to figure it out.”

According to senior Michael Kim, both students and faculty seem to forget that PGs are just like any other new student, so adjusting to Exeter can be a struggle for some, especially since many transition from public schools with curriculums much different than Exeter’s. Several PGs also described the Harkness method as a big jump for them, and unlike preps, they have to adapt to classes that are filled with mostly three and four-year students who know each other, and Harkness, well.To help aid the transitions for PGs and one-year seniors, Exeter holds several meetings at the beginning of the term, addressing the concerns of the new students and giving them advice for the new year. However, some faculty and students, such as English instructor Christina Breen, do not believe this preparation is enough.“They need even more support than your average senior,” Breen said. “They are used to being at the top of the class at their old schools, just in the way that our ninth graders are, but they don’t have four years to figure it out. Even the ninth graders are given a fall term of pass fail, but the PGs don’t have that opportunity.”In addition, many PGs face the stereotype of being a varsity athlete and, according to senior Max Kirsch, PGs’ acceptance is often dependent on athletic achievements.Kirsch also noted that there is also a small number of students and faculty who look down upon PGs in general, claiming they are “lazy” when compared to other students at Exeter. Kirsch said that PGs often come to Exeter ready to “work diligently” and “looking to improve academically to get to better colleges.”  In fact, Kirsch said, “in some aspects PGs have to work harder because of this bias held against them.”Senior Matthew Brooks agreed with Kirsch, emphasizing the level of commitment PGs show by spending a fifth year at high school at a challenging place such as Exeter. Brooks, however, believes that the Exeter community “respects” PGs’ willingness “to complete another year of athletics and [high schoool] education,” Brooks said.Brooks said that his transition to Exeter was easy because people recognized he was a PG and reached out to him to provide him with help. “I haven’t come across a single person during my time here that hasn’t been pleasant to interact with,” he said.But for one-year senior Samuel Coumans, adapting to the social side of Exeter was more difficult because of how well seniors tend to know one another.“You essentially enter into the senior class with many students who have built close relationships with classmates over their years at Exeter, so I had to start knowing nobody outside my dorm,” Coumans said.Breen believes the school can make the transition easier for PGs by holding PG-specific meetings more frequently and hosting orientation programs to help PGs meet other students. She believes it can be difficult, particularly for PGs who aren’t involved in a fall sport, to make friends in their first term here.“If you come in for a fall sport, you have an instant social structure already in place. If you are here to play a winter or spring sport, you really can feel like everyone already has their friends.” Breen said.Breen suggested a “buddy system” to match each PG with a current senior who can show them the ropes and answer their questions.Math instructor Susan Keeble, who worked last year on the committee that evaluated PGs’ graduation requirements, found that PGs can feel isolated and might resent the way mu                                                                                    lti-year students view them, causing them to develop bonds with other PGs more than with the rest of the student body. Keeble feels the stereotypes of PGs are “unfounded,”  and once students get to know PGs on a personal basis, they find that they are “outstanding young men and women who bring much to our school.”Nevertheless, Keeble agreed that PGs could benefit from more support as they acclimated to the school so quickly on top of the additional pressure of college admissions looming over their heads.“Many view their year here as life changing just as many of our other students,” Keeble said. “I just hope that in years to come we can abolish any stereotypes that are out there and treat each other as individuals with unique talents, interests and goals.”