It was 10:30 in the morning on Monday, September 10: Rosh Hashanah. I woke up to the piercing sound of my alarm, excited to have gotten a full night of sleep. Lying in bed, still tucked under my covers, I checked my phone, to see nearly ten snapchats of people taking selfies in their half empty classes.

It was the first monday of my sophomore year, and I missed school to celebrate the holiday with my family. Less than one week later, I—along with many other my Jewish peers at Parker—missed school to celebrate Yom Kippur.

I’m not going to lie, sometimes missing school can be really nice. However, at the beginning of the school year, it can be rather stressful, as almost every teacher has a different view regarding what they are willing to teach on the Jewish holidays. Some of my teachers believe that, during the Jewish High Holidays, it’s impractical to advance the curriculum. Others feel that on religious holidays, such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, it’s only fair to to teach a normal class rather than supplementary material for those in attendance.

This year, the first few weeks of school were quite scattered. During the first “week” of school, everyone in the Upper School only had two days of classes, and almost the entirely of all of my classes were filled teachers explaining the syllabus and their expectations for the class.

Instead, I think that it could be beneficial to have twenty minute “mini class” rotations during orientation where the teachers could go over the needed materials, the syllabus, and their expectations, ensuring that everyone could get right to work on the first day of class. This would also help to better the flow of the first few days of school, as it would allow the teachers to jump straight into the material.

During the second week of school, sophomores only had a three day school week due to the sophomore retreat. In theory, having minimal school sounds like a fantasy. In reality, it was really difficult to gauge whether my classes were a good fit prior to the official end of the Add/Drop period because of how few classes, graded homework assignments, quizzes, and test I received. The Add/Drop period should be extended until County Fair for all courses.
Although it is possible to move up or down a level in a placed class, I feel that this should be applicable to other classes and electives as well. In order to fully grasp whether or not a certain class or elective is good fit, you have to attend a certain amount of classes to understand the class’s flow, which is integral in making an informed decision.

Similar to the timing of the freshmen retreat, the sophomore retreat should take place prior to the official start of school. Moving the sophomore retreat earlier would helps students to bond before school starts, allowfall athletes to miss two days of preseason instead of two days of their regular season, and would ensure that it doesn’t impact the flow of the beginning of school.

Obviously, there are some things that can’t be changed, such as Jewish students missing school for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. However, I strongly believe that reviewing the syllabus and classroom expectations in each class during orientation—and having the sophomore retreat be earlier—would help to make the beginning of the year feel smoother for all students, and specifically for sophomores.