<p>Call me naive, but I don't get the idea of Saturday classes, esp. for those schools that are apparently already very academically rigorous, which I'm assuming translates into more homework hours. It seems to me like 5 days of classes plus 3-5 hours of homework 5 nights a week is enough...and that's not counting whatever weekend homework needs to happen. </p>
<p>I noticed once school said that their Wed. and Sat. classes only went until noonish, so perhaps a 1/2 day Wed. would justify a 1/2 day Sat.?</p>
<p>Yes, it’s because of the half days Wednesdays. Typically, team sports play their games on Wed. and Sat. afternoons. Because the teams often have to travel a fair distance to compete (certainly further than a lot of public school teams do), there are no classes on Wed and Sat afternoons to accomodate the travel schedule. So that’s why the half day of classes on Saturdays (though not all schools do this – Deerfield for one doesn’t, even though most of the schools it plays against do).</p>
<p>Ahhhh. Thanks Soxmom. So is it safe to assume that schools that are much more sports oriented would have Sat. classes? (is that the main/only reason for them?)</p>
<p>Saturday classes are something of a tradition for some schools, but most are phasing them out. Exeter has only 11 Saturday mornings for classes throughout the year now, most in the fall term, because the fall term is very short and starts after Labor Day and finishes before Thanksgiving. But until they can find room to put those 5 1/2 days back in the academic year schedule, Saturday classes will continue. Most courses have set syllabus material, and would be affected by losing all those classes.</p>
<p>No, I wouldn’t necessarily say it turns on whether a school is particularly sports-oriented or not. Deerfield has never had Saturday classes, and sports are a pretty big deal there. More just a tradition thing, really. Even schools that aren’t particularly sports-oriented still have athletic teams and they have to find a way to make that work in the schedule. Schools that have a higher proportion of day students, and schools that are located in an area that has lots of other private schools to compete against are less likely to have ever had Saturday classes.</p>
<p>I think Saturday classes can be a huge plus, personally. Let’s face it, downtime among a bunch of teens isn’t always used productively. More free time can equal more mischief. Keeping them occupied and busy equates to less opportunity to get bored. They don’t necessarily have more homework with classes 6 days a week. The work gets spread over more days and classes don’t meet each of those 6 days.</p>
<p>I agree with creative1. I preferred Saturday classes to the shortened breaks Exeter now has-- for one thing, it’s way more expensive to fly our kid home. And as creative points out, busy days are not really a bad thing for teens.</p>
<p>Truthfully, yes, some Saturdays classes are not fun to go to, but most of the time they are fine. You get used to Saturday classes and most teachers do not put tests on Saturdays unless they absolutely have to.</p>
<p>I must be honest and admit that Saturday classes have never been my child’s favorite thing about Boarding School. Having said that, it’s kind of like a “we’re all in this together” sort of thing ,and said child is well used to them by now. I think it builds a strong work ethic in the students, and is something that sets them apart from the typical “highschooler”. I know a previous poster said the BS’s are phasing them out, but honestly, I just don’t see that happening anytime soon at my child’s school.</p>
<p>Interesting thread as I was just thinking about this. My D is a day student and having Saturday classes/activities means she is at school 6 days a week until about 6:30. That means Sunday is homework, ALL DAY. She has no social life. It is a stressful pattern.</p>
<p>I do think for the boarding students, the schools would not like them to have so much free time on the weekends, so I see the appeal of Saturdays.</p>
<p>We have looked into number of boarding schools that have different approaches to Saturday classes. It can range from none to a few per semester to every week. It is easy enough to find out what the school’s schedule is. As a prior poster pointed out, some schools have a half day Wednesday and half day Saturday, so class time isn’t necessarily increased, it is just spread out.</p>
<p>Each State requires a certain number of school days per academic year. The Private schools do not take all the holidays allocated to the teachers union. My PS mid-schooler does not have 4 strait weeks of school until March and one more time in April next year. The rigorous academic work of BS IMO deserves some down time which provides longer Christmas and Spring breaks. As stated, there are athletic games mid week and Saturday classes are short. It’s a huge pay off come College knowing when to work and when to play. They’re all in it together and I don’t think they harp in it too much.</p>
<p>As a parent, I like Saturday classes. Students get used to it quickly, after a short period spent complaining. Schools which don’t have Saturday classes have greater trouble keeping everyone on campus over the weekends. Some schools empty out on weekends, as the day students and local boarders go home. The students may also take boarding friends home, which is fine every once in a while, but not so great when it’s every weekend.</p>