Orientation Schedule Changed for New School Year

Exeter Administrators have announced an updated orientation schedule for the entire student body in the first few days of the 2017-18 school year.

In the previous years, students would attend half of their classes on Friday and the remainder on Saturday. Each format would be the standard length, 50 minutes, and students would likely receive homework in each subject that they would complete over the weekend.The new schedule focuses on class-wide bonding over commencing coursework. On Friday, every format will meet in 25-minute blocks. On Saturday, each class is required to attend a one-hour meeting to prepare for Sunday’s grade-wide activities, such as seniors doing beach clean-up and a fair for lowers.

“Exeter is an amazing place filled with students with all different interests and skill sets. Once academics begin everyone becomes so busy trying to get it all done.”

Senior Meg Bolan, who started Exeter as a new lower, also felt that the focus on academics in her first days at Exeter furthered her apprehension of starting a new school and bonding with students.

“Starting off in full days of classes did little to boost any confidence or bash any nervous butterflies and gave me an excuse not to venture out socially,” she said.

In addition, some students felt that the prior schedule’s 50-minute formats were an inefficient use of time.

Lower Caroline Fleming felt that the new schedule accounts for the fact that even 50-minute periods are often not fully utilized on the first day of a new term and gives students more time to adjust and relax.

“I think it’s much better because the first few classes are usually just name games and introductions so the shorter periods will cover that,” she said. “You get to meet everyone and get settled but still have a relaxing weekend with your friends.”

Although many students seemed positive about the new schedule and its potential to help ease the transition to Exeter for new and returning Exonians alike, some expressed reservations due to teachers having less class time and the schedule’s rigor. Upper Yaseen Ahmed felt that shorter formats would result in rushed introductions for both students and teachers.

“It may be more difficult for teachers to introduce their classes to the course material and for students to make connections with their classmates,” she said.

Lower Natalia Rivera felt that having all academic classes in a short period of time could be overwhelming.

“I’m glad to have Saturday free, but at the same time, cramming all the classes into one day is a lot,” she said.

The modified schedule also includes class-wide trips or events that will take place on the first Sunday of the school year. Preps and seniors will be leaving campus from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., with ninth-graders heading to a ropes course in Durham, NH and twelfth-graders leaving campus for Rye Harbor State Park. Lowers will attend a fair on the Academy Lawn at 1 p.m., and uppers will head to the Assembly Hall at 11 a.m. to hear author Ed Gerety lead a discussion on his book “Opening the Door to Student Leadership.”

Ms. Reyes, who will be leading the senior class trip, said the trip will combine community service and a social outing, as students get to experience the Atlantic coast while working with the oceanic conservation group Blue Ocean Society.

“The Academy has had a long standing relationship with the Blue Ocean Society, and ESSO organizes a group of students to do monthly beach cleanups,” she said, noting that the Blue Ocean Society is responsible for the removal of 170,000 pounds of trash from local beaches. “We wanted a low stress outdoor activity that would accommodate all our seniors and postgraduates. We wanted it to be an open and informal gathering to give students the opportunity to meet new classmates and say hello to friends.”

Reyes also mentioned that the trip would give seniors and postgraduates an opportunity to explore the New England coastline.

“All seniors should make it to the Atlantic Ocean on the New Hampshire coast before they graduate,” she said. “This is their chance to reconnect, help give back to the community in which they’ve studied and lived, get to know a few new students and have fun.”

Although this mandatory class meeting will give seniors time to bond, some returning students felt that the new schedule should allow more free time, especially during the rush of move in week.

Bolan listed the challenges students face at the start of a new school year. “Traveling is exhausting. Moving in is exhausting. Trying out or having two practices a day is exhausting,” she said. Bolan added that having a free Sunday, as the old schedule offered, would be beneficial. “Simply one day to reboot, recollect and settle would be well-received,” she said.

Along with these minor misgivings about the new orientation schedule, students expressed hope that the updated itinerary would help both new and returning students to become acclimated to Exeter and to bond with their classmates. Bolan felt that a day of class bonding and fun activities would be a better would do a lot to lessen social anxieties of new students.

“These fun and new activities, though they may not be everyone’s cup of tea, celebrate the beginning of a new year,” she said. “They give new students a chance to see all these other new faces that will be in their classes on their teams and in their clubs and an opportunity to establish some form of familiarity in such an unfamiliar environment.”

Reyes believes these all-class activities are vital to reconnecting students with their Exeter community before the academic year is in full swing.

“Exeter is an amazing place filled with students with all different interests and skill sets. Once academics begin everyone becomes so busy trying to get it all done,” she said. “I feel that this change will give students a chance to be reminded of the friends that they have made and give them the opportunity to look forward to the new friends they will share an experience with this year.”