The majority of Marlborough Community Days have been shifted to two half-days in a row called Community Splits. A scheduling committee, led by the Director of Middle School Sean Fitts, implemented this change to create more structure for Community Time and foster productivity among the community.
“We [the committee] realized that a lot of people were not getting much out of the full [Community] Day experience and felt that some of their time was wasted … so we decided to split up Community Time to be like extended flex periods, which would create a flow that is more manageable and allows time for work, office hours and programming,” Fitts said.
The committee aimed to structure these Community Splits around holidays and school-wide events to create a schedule that meets the needs of students. For example, the Community Split organized around Pumpkin Day will allow students to end classes early on the holiday and start classes late the following day. The committee also worked to schedule community times around events like PSAT exams or college application deadlines to relieve some stress for students.
“Students can get things done, ease into the day and not be rushed into a test the day after holidays or events,” Fitts said. “They [Community Splits] can be used for academic work, but we also want to encourage some down time and opportunities for other programming.”
Marlborough students have expressed mixed feelings in response to the new Community Splits. Some students miss the flexibility that Community Days offered, while others appreciate the structure that the new scheduling provides.
“I think there are definitely some pros and cons,” Isabela Kassabian ‘23 said. “I like that Community Splits are centered around some holidays and give us more balance in our schedules, but I also think that an entire day off to meet with my teachers was really helpful.”
Fitts and the committee value feedback from the Marlborough community and are continuing to optimize the schedule.
“My mind is constantly on how to make the schedule more efficient and better for students,” Fitts said. “We take feedback from the faculty and students and think that feedback is really important.”
