With the school year coming to an end, everything seems to happen all at once. Students are taking AP exams, preparing for finals, and participating in clubs, sports, and much more. Students at KO have to tackle a lot, and it is never easy. So why is the Kingswood Oxford faculty scheduling constant assemblies at this busy time of year? We want to bring to attention the both positive and negative effects of the schedule change after graduation, as well as note how the sudden influx in assemblies during the weeks leading up to APs affect the student body. J
Throughout the year, community time is used for assemblies, but also as a time for students to get work done. This is especially true in the weeks leading up to APs. Many students at KO take at least one AP class, but some take up to four or five. Many of these students are relying on this free time to study or meet with teachers in order to succeed on the exam. And while free periods are certainly helpful, community time simply offers so much more. On top of all teachers being free to meet with students, all students are free to work with one another. Community time is the most productive time for us, because we can talk with all of our classmates and work collaboratively, in order to prepare for APs. We value community time regularly, but even more in the weeks leading up to APs. This is why we were frustrated with the sudden increase in assemblies during these final prep weeks.
We believe that special assemblies throughout the year are good because it brings the school together as a community, but we also think there should not be more than one a week, especially during the busiest and most stressful time of the year.
So what should the teachers and faculty do? We think that they should have a stronger connection with the student body. We believe that the student body should be more involved in the planning of assemblies, perhaps communicating more with faculty about times of the year that work well.
There also needs to be more communication between departments to ensure that they aren’t all scheduling assemblies during the same couple of weeks. We noticed that during the winter, beyond the Symposium assembly, there were barely any special assemblies or speakers on campus, so perhaps the majority of planned speakers can come in then, because students are generally less busy during that time. We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity to hear from all of these unique people and so grateful for everyone who worked to bring them in, but we think that the scheduling of these assemblies needs to better consider students’ lives.
That said, we’re happy to see that the school has made some schedule changes after graduation. Usually, finals take place the week after graduation, which falls on the four days after Memorial Day weekend. School would officially let out the Monday after exams. This year, however, an extra week of classes was added in between, meaning that there is an extra week of review. We also start summer on a Friday this year, instead of the usual Monday.
We believe that the extra week of review will be super helpful as far as studying goes, as we will have more time to meet with teachers and review for finals. Though it may seem like we’re getting out later than in past years, we actually aren’t. This is because memorial day falls earlier than it usually does, throwing off the schedule.
Despite mixed reviews surrounding this schedule change, we unanimously agreed that getting out on a Friday is going to be great for students. Instead of taking a final Friday and then having to come in on that following Monday, we just get to start summer, which is great for students. However, we think that it’s important to acknowledge that this is inconvenient for teachers, especially those who have an exam on the last day, because they only have one night to grade all of their students’ exams.
All in all, we urge faculty to better schedule and spread out assemblies, while also acknowledging the benefits of the different end-of-the-year schedule.
