Every year since 1989, prospective Marlborough parents are invited to attend one of six Mornings at Marlborough, during which they tour the school in small groups led by current Marlborough parents and observe an array of classes in action.
According to the School’s website, Mornings at Marlborough give applicant parents the opportunity to tour the campus and “speak informally with students, teachers, and administrators.” Prospective parents have expressed that these mornings prove to be invaluable in showing what their daughters would experience as students at Marlborough.
Through the years, Marlborough students, who have taken to calling Mornings at Marlborough “Fishbowl Fridays” because of the way students feel they are being observed by prospective parents, have collected funny stories and fond memories of awkward Mornings at Marlborough moments.
In spite of these students’ stories, Mornings at Marlborough generally do not disrupt the school day. For the most part, classes continue as they would on any other day, and teachers and students carry on the same way they always do.
“In my chemistry class, one of the girls came up with an idea to make people look smart [by pretending that every student knows the answer to every question]. When a tour comes by and we want to raise our hand to look smart, we raise our right hands, and when we actually know the answer, we raise our left hands to ensure the teacher calls on someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.” ~ Annie ’16
“So in drama class we had to pretend that we were, like, being reborn as our characters, so we were pretending that we were babies. And they open the door of the Intimate Theater and stare at us and we’re crawling on the floor. And then when they close the door, everyone starts crying, like yelling, and, like, they could hear us. It was very bizarre.” ~ Natalie ’16
“During Ancient Civ one day, [a] parent came in, and he wanted to see what Doc was teaching, so he started leaning over our friend Lily’s shoulder and just breathing on her papers, and she was like, ‘Umm, excuse me,’ and then she looked around and he was gone.” ~ Sophie ’17
“I was in Self Defense class, and I was in a fight, pretending that an attacker made me go on all fours. And he was behind me and right when I was about to start fighting, like, when the guy was saying, you know, ‘Get on all fours!’ the parents came in and they were just like horrified. It was so embarrassing.” ~ Josie ’17
“There was a woman who came into English with a group and stood behind me during a discussion and made noises depending on whether she agreed or disagreed. So she’d go, like, ‘Mhmm, very interesting,’ the whole time. It was very distracting.” ~ Ella ’15
“We’re sitting in photography, and Abby [and I] are sitting next to each other and there were parents on the other side of the room, and [Abby and I] were discussing a sensitive subject and Abby was being annoying so I elbowed her super hard in the boob. And Abby goes, ‘Ow! Olivia, you’re abusing me!’ and all the parents look over their shoulders.” ~ Olivia ’16
