Has Exeter Considered All Its Options?
By Arhon Strauss ’23
We, as a student body, return to campus on February 11th. We will only have 1 month of in person winter classes before spring term. Almost half of the winter will be spent online and off-campus. So why is the administration sending us back at all, what are the implications of their plan and is this truly the best decision for us?
Exeter is one of the most elite boarding schools in the country. Parents pay tens of thousands of dollars to send us here. As such, the administration has a vested interest in satisfying us and more importantly our parents. Essentially, they need to make sure our families are getting their money’s worth. Online classes would not have been enough for us or our parents. The administration, however, can not ignore the health of its student body. Balancing these two sides has led to the half and half decision of online but on campus classes during fall term.
The situation for winter term is fundamentally different. Going into fall term, the number of COVID-19 cases was decreasing, but recently cases have been surging to record highs. With this in mind, it makes sense that we would not return to campus for hell weeks or winter term for that matter. Not returning at all would be the safest option. Is it the best option, though?
A high school’s most basic goal is to educate its students, and at Exeter that education revolves heavily around campus. So in order to meet that goal, and in other words satisfy the students and parents, they took the risk of bringing us back to campus even though it may have been safer to have an entirely asynchronous experience.
Returning in the middle of the term will most likely make it hard for some students to transition from the off-campus to on campus learning environments. A home is a very different place from a dorm and moving between the two halfway through the term will create a culture shock. Specifically, time management will become more difficult during the period in which we move in; readjusting to juggle dorm, school and social life will come with a learning curve. Additionally, the travel time difference will exacerbate the sudden change from home to school learning. The administration has provided students with an extra day to settle in, but one day will not be enough to account for jetlag, much less accommodate the situational changes.
However, given the current situation, Exeter has taken the best path, even if that path is not ideal. The changes that we, as a student body would have to make for the midway switch from off to on campus learning are not nearly as bad as simply being off campus the whole term. The current plan gives us, as a student body, the ability to connect with our peers and experience a more normal Exonian life. Spring break has also been shrunk to only 4 days, so that students who are already on campus can stay on campus and that off campus students have an opportunity to return for spring term.
Winter term is going to be hard or rather harder than usual. COVID-19, home classes and the transition will add stress to an already stressful term. Yet, the school has made the most of a bad situation by allowing us to return to campus, even if it is for a short amount of time. Additionally, staying on campus during spring is a great option that I think will help with many of the logistical issues that students may have had otherwise, as it will reduce the amount of time we must spend quarantining. So while winter term will still be difficult, there will still be parts of it to look forward to. We’ll push through — but it’s important to find the good where we can.