The first couple of days are packed with activities.
Monday, August 30th - The Freshman class moves into dorms during the morning and then leaves campus @ 1:00 PM for an overnight retreat at a camp in the Berkshires. Itâs a huge bonding experience.
2:45 PM New 10th & 11th graders move into their dorms Monday afternoon (after the Freshman have gone) and they have a series of welcome activities starting. Panel for new parents at 3:00 PM
Here is more info from the updated information for new students.
How much homework should you have? What is the grading scale?
BTWâŠyou will have more homework than they claim but you can always refer to this published estimate.
âgrades are reported to students and their parents at the midterms and ends of termâ. This is just the overall grade per course, right? Kids get told their grade on each piece of homework/quiz/test after they complete it during the term though? So they should have a general idea of how theyâre doing as they go along.
Be prepared for feedback and grades to be provided at inconsistent times. Except for math, at DA most of our kidâs grades were not provided in a consistent way for each assignment. This made things difficult at times in English and Social Studies classes. Foreign language had timely feedback, usually. Often, a grade on a written assignment for English wouldnât be returned for weeks. It depends on what teacher you get. Then there is our âfavoriteâ English teacher, Mr. 89. He would often give back essays or poems weeks after the assignment was turned in. At the top of the page there was no grade - just a comment like âExcellentâ or âVery strongâ. You would not know where you stood until you got that grade of 89 - unless you were a Fac Brat or a valued athlete who referred to him as âMr 89 - heâs my manâ. Let me know if your kid gets Mr. 89. I will buy you a Deerfield Martini
Darn I missed the drinks with Golfgr8! We enjoyed spending time at Deerfield Inn and meeting new families this past week. Thank you Golfgr8 for being so accessible on this forum and doing such a great job answering questions.
Hello Anon,
I was also wondering the same thing. I am unable to return for family weekend but have extended family arriving on my behalf that live in the Boston area. I suspect we will get an email soon with details. Be sure to reserve a hotel if you have not already. They are filling up quickly!
Hi Calimom1971- We have our hotel booked. My in-laws asked the date and immediately booked hotel and flights and I donât even know if grandparents are welcome to participate in things? I also want to make dinner reservations one night but have no clue if my kiddo will be free for dinner. Hopefully info will come soon!
Do you have a Freshman? Mine is a Junior so there were fewer newbies. I feel like we didnât really get the opportunity to meet anyone. We had dinner at the Inn Sunday, but didnât meet anyone. We met a couple of helpful dads when we couldnât find registration, and the dad parked next to us when we were unloading. Also a dad who came over from Australia with his freshman and now has to stay for 3 months due to their quarantine rules. Looking forward to meeting more families.
We missed you all but weâre there in our golf gear at the barâŠ.here is a helpful hint and info for Fall Family weekend.
Family members - including grandparents- have been welcomed in the past. With Covid, there might be different procedures but you will an update email shortly.
Do make hotel and dinner reservations now, especially hotelâŠI advised my new families to do this months ago due to UMass sports and events the same weekend. DM me if you need suggestions.
Hello Anon,
I sorry for late response! Work hectic. I am happy to see you have your hotel booked. I think anyone is welcomed especially grandparents! My son decided to not come in as newbie Junior and do a repeat Sophomore year. The first few weeks he was missing his friends from home but in a matter of no time he has made many new friends. I asked him last week on a scale of 1-10 (10 being best) how would he rate the boarding school experience. He replied, 9.5.
My work is done here. I am sure your Junior is doing great. Do let me know.
That is great news! My son is also pretty tired. He did get a bad cold along with many other students. I was able to send him some Whole Food groceries. He really appreciated it and made me feel better since he sounded so awful. Just curious did your daughter have time to sign up for extra clubs?
My daughter had the cold too! I think the whole school did. As far as I know she hasnât had time. Her EC is dance and she has it 7 days a week because of rehearsals for parent weekend performance and Nutcracker. She did go to the club fair and put her name down on several.
How exciting. I hope I get to see some of the performances online. Letâs be sure to keep in touch. I love hearing how the students are doing. That cold sure did spread quickly!
How is your son liking things? My daughter seems to be still happy with her choice. She does have one teacher who has not yet given any real grades, just comments like âfair to goodâ on papers with the opportunity to fix things, which is a bit nerve wracking! I have to say, the comments on the miscellaneous ramblings thread from the other Deerfield parent about stressed out and unhappy teachers, and bad college counselors at Deerfield is a little concerning. Although my kiddo has not ever mentioned any teachers who seem unprofessional, negative or stressed.
Its been our experience (and that of previous posters I have spoken with privately) that academic success, as well as academic happiness, very much depends on the teachers you get. Although you may think this bad luck is unique to my kid or our imagining, these experiences are not unique experiences to my kid. Many faculty members seem burned out and resentful.
From Day One at DA, my kid has had bad luck with teachers - except for 2 really good ones. Several bad ones - two of whom are now gone. It is just luck of the draw - however, do get info from older students about teachers and classes. I think if you are an athlete, from Greenwich, wealthy international kid, or hooked in by legacy - life is better for you at DA. Maybe at other NE schools, too. There - I said it. Itâs not something you have never heard before (especially from Choate kids).
Unfortunately, DA is short some teachers this year - the high level classes my kid has are larger than ever before. Some classes twice as large. This has IMHO impacted the academic experience. More âteaâ to spill on May 29th!
I donât think it is just imagining or your kid. We have had our share of not great teachers over the years, and hoping to avoid any more! My kid did cyber school last year and taught herself AP Calc, Chem and Psych. so I think teachers would have to be really bad for her to notice or say something. I have advised her to talk to people before selecting classes next year. I think her largest class is 10-12. In the public school larger classes were 28 or so. Itâs sad and totally unacceptable for teachers to make such unprofessional comments to kids! They should not be teaching. .
Sorry for the late response. Nice to hear from both of you!
My son is liking Deerfield (nothing else to compare it to) very much but a few issues:
*As an incoming repeat sophomore he feels it is a little challenging to make friends since everyone seems to already know each other. He is very outgoing and missing friendships he forged back home since he was 5. I reminded him that he will be there for many more years and it would be impossible to not make amazing friendships.
*One teacher whom he did not know actually made a comment in front of him to other boys regarding girls while walking in the hallways. It was pretty offensive (think boy club) so much so he called me to ask me about it. I honestly feel this must not be the norm but I encouraged him to set up a meeting with this teacher and just share with him how his comments might be considered offensive and why. I am pretty sure he did not take my advice but I just want to present him with some options for when it might happen again. Think of solutions when faced with these challenges.
*I did google reviews from graduates of Deerfield. I read several and found it very informative of what Deerfield life is like and how they feel about the experience now that they are attending college. Overall positive and most reviews emphasized friendships, fun and hard classes. I think I have to remember this is high school prep boarding school and it is not always going to be easy.
*Agree the teacher you get good or bad can set the tone and wise for a student to do his research. But this is a taste of what the real world is going to be like.
Many schools are having a shortage on staffing. I have to remind myself we are still in a pandemic and when I have spoken to Deerfield staff I know they are also feeling it too.
The first couple of days are packed with activities.
or freak out.
but you can always refer to this published estimate.
Family members - including grandparents- have been welcomed in the past. With Covid, there might be different procedures but you will an update email shortly.
I am sure your Junior is doing great. Do let me know.
.