“Do we have any classes together?” my friends asked me as they flooded my texts with their junior year schedules. As I compared my future classes against those my friends were placed in, I grew increasingly anxious for the much anticipated junior year.

Prior to the release of schedules, junior year had not been of concern to me. I was focused on completing my sophomore classes and securing last minute positions in various extracurriculars. However, my attention quickly shifted as soon as my future classes displayed upon my computer screen.

I was no longer living in the moment, but rather planning ahead for next year. I had considered the classes I could add or drop to accommodate a schedule I desired. The stress of fixing my schedule along with the feedback I had received from older students about the classes I was placed in immensely contributed to my stress. The entire process of panicking over a meeting with the Registrar, Matt McCaw, puzzling missing pieces of a schedule, and going through the add/drop forms is unnecessary for students to have to go through as the year comes to a close.

Releasing schedules does not allow students to be in the moment nor does it permit them to devote their undivided attention to finals or applications for extracurriculars.

The end of school represents finals, last opportunities to prove academic abilities to teachers, and applications for next year’s leadership positions: all of which are individually stressful experiences. By this time of year, students are worn out and focused on the countdown until summer. Their plate is full of tasks they have to accomplish in minimal time.

Schedule releasement in the spring does not only cause for students’ agendas to be too full with work and anxiety, but also prohibits a temporary liberation from school related activity.

Summer is supposed to provide a break from school in which students do not have to worry about Parker academics. However, knowing our schedules does not allow for a true break from school because, from my experience, we may stress about our upcoming classes and grow increasingly worried for the upcoming year as summer comes to an end.

With the exception of the sophomore, junior, and senior grades, every other grade within Parker receives their schedules or class list towards the final weeks of summer. The benefit to this technique is that students get to experience a summer where they are unaware of their circumstances for the following year and are therefore liberated from the stress of their classes. This way of releasing schedules should be for all Upper School schedules, not just freshmen and Lower School students.

Some may argue that not knowing one’s schedule could also cause stress because the unknown does not sit well with some. However, students need a period where they are disconnected from school related activity in order to truly take a break from academics. Receiving schedules at the end of summer signifies the beginning of a fresh start. When students are made aware of their schedules in the spring, there is no fresh start. There is simply a time over summer when students finish out their current school year and are already prepared for the next.