Which schools have Saturday classes - Pros/Cons

Brooks School has a half day Wednesday and Saturday every week.

@happytimes2001, My kid was a day student for 9th and 10th and felt differently, so I think it is more about finding the fit that works.
DS still looked forward to the weekend and loved being on campus on Saturdays and would have been there for sports and extracurriculars and hanging with friends even if there were no Sat classes. While the schedule is stressful at times, long weekend breaks seem to come exactly when they are needed. Sat classes, sports, etc were actually a factor for DS in choosing between being a (day) student at a boarding school and being a student at a day school.
Like everything else, you need to carefully consider fit for yourself (or your child.)

@carpoolingma Good points. Depends on the kid. One of my kiddos needs real downtime so Saturday classes were an issue. For the other, it doesn’t really matter.

Just adding to the good insights shared above…We have found that Saturday classes can be an issue for some students who are very invested and involved with club teams or “travel” teams. For some sports, this may be part of a recruitment goal…We did not realize this fully until we started the school search process. We know kids in soccer, lax, and hockey who have outside commitments on the weekends. Some schools have coaches that understand the travel/club team commitments. Some kids need to leave during their “travel” season. We also know students who are feeling “left out” and are missing out on campus bonding because they are away for travel or club sports teams. So check on this while you are selecting schools if your sport may be at that level, or if you need to go…also, we found that a couple of the single-sex BS’s with large day students basically become quiet and lonely without Saturday classes. So, if you are looking to attend a school far from home, you may want to determine how quiet the school becomes on the weekends. We found this to be the case with a couple of schools without Saturday classes.

If we were told during the interview and discussion with the school’s coach, team captains that skipping Saturday classes was generally not a problem for club sports (as long as student is a well organized kid) should I take them at their word or delve deeper?

Delve deeper. The team captains are obviously students. From experience, students can find loopholes in the rules, but that does not mean the kid won;t get dinged if caught. Trust,but verify.:slight_smile:

Agree with @skieurope to “delve deeper”…already hearing from kids on Fall sports teams and winter (hockey) that tit was frowned upon (even with parent letters and permission) to ditch Saturday classes for a tournament or showcase. I really think you and your parents need to be up front and honest about your concerns for participating in a club or travel team while balancing your academic commitments.

Yes, delve deeper — at DS’s school, where there’s a heavy athletic component and many. Many kids play outside sports, you just can’t miss classes for outside events, that is, without receiving demerits, I unexcused absences, and therefore potentially not being allowed to make up missed work, tests or quizzes. I would guess there are exceptions, but the rules are clear that you can’t leave campus before school obligations are fulfilled. Keep in mind, though, that (at least for the sports DS plays), many of the off-season sport tournaments and recruiting events are on Sundays, so depending on the logistics it can be made to work.

Thanks, all. My daughter is in communication with kids at the schools she’s applying to who also play the same club sport. For her team she will have to take at least half/one third of the Saturday classes off in the spring with some possible winter sport conflicts. There are two kids at each school who currently play at the same club or on the same level so I am hoping that it is actually possible. Mine is a very organized and the message we have gotten is that it works for kids like that.

I am actually more worried about a conflict between winter club practices and a varsity winter school sport. I realize she could just play a throw away sport in the winter but that would make her sad. That conflict is one I need to get more of a handle on from the club team. Good things to think about!

@dogsmama1997 …although your DD “is in communication with kids at the schools she’s applying to who also play the club sport”, please discuss with the coaches at the school. We have seen kids have some issues with taking time off from Saturday class, leaving on closed weekends, flying to showcases, and leaving campus for club or travel teams…we received different opinions and learned different school policies depending on the BS.

Thanks @Golfgr8, the coaches all said it wasn’t a problem “as long as she was organized” that’s why we asked to speak to kids who have the same commitments she would have. But I hear you, we will check and double check before any final decision is made.

And obviously it all depends on where she is accepted, I am just trying to get an advance handle on the situation so that come March 10 we aren’t scrambling to figure out what the various policies are.

More to the point, please discuss with both the athletic director and the counterpart on the academic side. Missing half of classes may not be a problem for the coach with a vested interest, but may (or may not) be a problem for the faculty involved.

How can skipping Sat classes not be an issue? More likely the club agrees that during the school year kids will not be able to make all practices ( school comes first is generally the norm). Also, my kid does another EC and to get travel permission for a single day, has to write to several academic people so it’s covered. It’s an academic thing and it’s regional/national level/internatl and sometimes higher but it is always approved. There are quite a few sign offs. I would never allow my kids to skip classes for their club sport. Only exception would be for a National title and I would get school approval beforehand.

@Happytimes2001 I guess the schools want those kids enough and they know spring season means those kids are going to miss Saturday classes and often Friday classes for travel. We were told at PA that it was a no go but there are kids currently there and doing it so we assume they are trying to phase it out. The other schools said it was doable and have kids there currently doing it. YMMV, but for us, and until my kid says enough, this sport is important enough to skip some classes for.

@dogsmama1997, only you know your child, but if it were me I’d be concerned that I might not be setting my child up for academic success. Having to complete all of her her work for Friday and Saturday on Thursday then catch up on class notes on the road while doing her work for Monday sounds brutal to me. The workload at a lot of boarding schools is already heavy enough to challenge most students.