Students Enjoy Break From Classes on Relaxing Principal's Day

At Elm Street dining hall, Exonians sat huddled around tables enjoying meals with their friends when suddenly the chorus of Cupid’s Shuffle sounded on the loudspeakers, and faculty members started an impromptu flash mob. Many students stopped in their tracks, pulling out phones or tablets to record the dance. After two minutes, the music died down, and Principal MacFarlane stepped into the middle of the dining hall holding a loudspeaker. “It’s Principal’s Day!” she shouted, as screams of joy erupted from the students. News of the event quickly spread through Facebook and Snapchat; all around campus students were enthralled by the prospect of a day without classes.

“The weather was better last year, but this year’s Principal’s Day was nice because it was earlier in the term.”

Principal’s Day has been an Exeter tradition for more than six decades. It began in with Principal William G. Saltonstall '24 (who led the school from 1946-63), and was initially called "St. Gurdon's Day,” Gurdon being Saltonstall's middle name. Each year, the event is announced one day in advance, typically in unexpected and creative ways, such as with the appearance of new Adirondack chairs on campus last year, or the encoded Caesar Box on the Facebook page of The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown '82 a few years back. Since the start of the second half of spring term, students have been anticipating the announcement, with many making travel plans with friends.

This year’s method of announcing Principal’s Day was unique in its own rights; though Elm Street dining hall has been used as the announcement venue before, the flash mob was a new addition enjoyed by many students. Upper Ellen Blackwell was disappointed that she couldn’t catch the performance because she had to work in the library during H format. She, like preps Alexander Kish and Isadora Rivera-Janer, learned about Principal’s Day through the email being sent a few minutes later to all students on campus. For Rivera-Janer, it was not much of a surprise—“I sensed people were expecting it to happen,” she said.

The timing of this year’s Principal’s Day has been a source of controversy. Students appreciated the fact that it was a Thursday, as Rivera-Janer said, “between wednesday and the last day of the week.” According to Kish, this gave him the opportunity to finish his homework for the weekend and have even more free time. Senior Kristy Chang however, said that she would rather have a day off the following week, the week with Saturday classes. “The weather was also horrible, rainy and cold,”  she said.

Some of the faculty also disliked the timing of Principal’s Day. History Instructor Michael Golay admitted that his Principal’s Day hadn't been his idea of a day off. “The History department had a retreat with an academic from Stanford, so I spent seven hours in meetings with him. It was alright as far as it went, but not my idea of a day off,” he said. “I hope the students enjoyed theirs.”

Overall, students still appreciated the chance to have a day off. Lower Dylan Yin spent his Principal’s Day catching up on assignments that had been building up for the week. “Principal’s Day was a good chance for students to de-stress. I was glad that I could have a day off to slow down, reflect on the week, and catch up,” Yin said. “Honestly I just bought tissues from Walgreens and watched videos.” Principal’s Day also coincided with the farmer’s market on Swasey; Blackwell went to the market with her friends, and had a good time looking at the fresh flowers and organic vegetables there.

Meanwhile, other students took the day off as a chance to escape Exeter’s campus. Prep Rachel Won and a group of friends spent their day in Portsmouth and Hampton Beach. “We just hung out, ate food, and went shopping,” Won said. “Not only was the day a good opportunity to bond with friends, it was also really helpful in terms of catching up on work and sleep.”

Lower Ella Parsons, who also went to Portsmouth, described the experience as “relaxing, adventurous and [full of] great food.”

She also commented on the weather. “The weather was better last year, but this year’s Principal’s Day was nice because it was earlier in the term,” she said. “Last year’s was too close to finals so I was too stressed to enjoy myself, but I felt like even with the bad weather I had a lot of fun this year.”

Many students traveled even further and took the train to Boston. Lower Elizabeth Yang and her friends spent the day eating dumplings and drinking bubble tea in Chinatown, exploring Quincy market and shopping at Newbury Street. Yang agreed with Parsons that this year’s Principal’s Day has been more memorable, stating that, “Especially since it was my five class day, it was a great experience figuring out plans and getting off campus,” Yang said.

Day students also spent their Principal’s Day away from campus. Kish, who lives in Haverhill, Massachusetts, stayed home and spent time shopping at BestBuy. Similarly, senior Serena Michaels did not go to campus, choosing to binge-watched Netflix with her family and go out to dinner instead. Like many Exonians, she took advantage of the extra free time to get some “much-needed” sleep.