Alexa D’Ambrosio ’17: Spring break of 2015 will be cancelled to make up for the many snow days from the previous school year. This administrative decision was made because in the 2013-2014 school year, students lost valuable school time due to eight snow days, plus delayed openings. Dr. Delvin Dinkins, Head of the Upper School explained, “I believe in the concept of delayed gratification, and so by waiting a full year to make up the days, I think students will benefit more than if we had made them up last year. I am excited that we have to make them up—the more school, the better!”
The time previously reserved for spring break will now involve extra schoolwork—more than in the usual school year. There will be no special events planned to provide time for rest from the increased workload or incentives for the hard work. Dinkins stated, “The only thing special would be school on Saturdays.” Exams will be allowed, and he explained, “I figured that if we could double the amount [of work], that would be a great way to recoup the lost time.”
In response to students already having vacation plans, Dinkins provided an easy fix: “I think they [students] can always vacation here. We have lovely gardens and greens. And camping out is a great way to vacation. The cross-country course is scenic. You can frolic with some of the animals out there.”
Photo courtesy of Sammi Ciardi ’15
In spite of the change, Dinkins will not lose any relaxation time and plans to be off campus during break. He stated, “I still plan to go on vacation. Everybody else will be here.”
Head of School, T.J. Locke, added, “The only thing better than calling a snow day is cancelling a vacation day. We’re going to spend the week outlining note taking and working on transcription skills.” Locke said he delayed replacing lost school time because “I’d rather spend more time with Austin Morgan ‘15 than Jack Keffer ‘14.”
Not all students feel as enthusiastic about this loss of break time. Heidi Zirnkilton ‘17 said, “Spring break is important to our curriculum because our mind needs time to rest to absorb more information in the future.” Ashley Lowber ’17 felt similarly and added “I feel melancholy about having to make up the snow days from last year. Spring break is a very good time to relax and let go of obligations.”
Unfortunately for them and everyone else, students will now have to wait until 2016 for the next Spring break.