With each new school year, Loomis Chaffee introduces new regulations and policies dedicated to improving both academic and extracurricular life on the Island. This year, the school implemented a new Friday schedule.
This Friday schedule features 70 minute classes throughout all periods, along with an increased community time of 80 minutes, allowing for additional all-school free time while not drastically changing class length. On a normal school day, classes run for 75 minutes and the community free lasts for 60 minutes.
“On Fridays, which is when we have class meetings [and] faculty meetings, we wanted more community time,” Associate Director of Studies Mr. Bob DeConinck said.
Fridays are also one of the most common days for numerous Loomis clubs and organizations to meet in community time. However, due to the insufficient time allotted, club and other meetings had often been cut short, leaving students to rush to their next class. In response to this, the new Friday schedule was created.
“Now we have more time, more community time for meetings — for class meetings, for faculty meetings, for any meeting that might come up in departments,” Mr. DeConinck said.
The school looks to resolve this ceaseless issue succinctly, and if this schedule is seen to be a solution for interrupted meetings, then the school will continue with it in the following years.
“One year– it’s a one year trial. So we’ll see what happens at the end of the year, [and then] we will evaluate,” Mr. DeConinck said.
Teachers were the first people interested in creating a special schedule on Fridays, concerned that several meetings were rushed or cut short.
“The Dean of Faculty’s office proposed it, and then there was just a group of us that thought it was a good idea, a group of administrators, and then we voted on it as a faculty,” Mr. DeConinck said.
Even though no drastic change was made, the five minutes cut from each class period was still a point of discussion when making this decision.
“Five minutes in one class for one day a [week] was a trade off that we were willing to take,” Mr. DeConinck said.
Ultimately, the administration and faculty found the modified Friday schedule to be a solution of minimal consequences with the potential to bring more productivity and comfort to important activities at LC.
“Everything was always rushed. We just wanted more time to meet without rushing, and not only faculty but also students say … certain clubs can meet [more easily],” Mr. DeConinck said.