The current physical education requirements at Marlborough have been a widely controversial topic since their initial instatement at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. The PE Department has recently decided that they will be updating the guidelines for the 2023-2024 school year.

The current PE regulations require 22 hours of physical activity each semester, which can be fulfilled through on-campus activities or independent workouts. Currently, club sports offered at Marlborough and participation in a sport at Marlborough do not count towards PE hours.

“I thought it was unfair because I was already spending two hours a day playing sports for Marlborough, and then I had to go work out in the gym,” Sofia ‘24 said.

Physical Education Coordinator and Head of Sports Performance Tyler Wilde, along with the rest of the PE Department, took the input from the student body and decided to decrease the number of hours to 20 per semester and count sports practices inside and outside Marlborough towards PE hours next year.

“We are realizing that our athletes are doing a lot, and we want to make sure we honor that,” Wilde said.

Athletes that play sports not offered at Marlborough can use their commitment to fill most of their hours. However, they will also have to complete some additional hours with Marlborough. Similarly, athletes who play a club sport offered at Marlborough will receive credit but have to complete asynchronous workouts either on or off campus that align with their sport.

“These are changes that take into consideration real-world limits, like … the amount of volume that athletes are participating in.” Wilde said. “But still providing those educational pieces that help students advocate for their bodies.” 

The PE Department hopes to help and encourage all students to take accountability for scheduling their own physical activities.

“It’s easy when you have it scheduled for you through sports, but it’s much harder when you don’t have that infrastructure.” Wilde said. “So of the many practices that you can learn at school, one of the things that hopefully becomes a habit when you leave … is taking care of your body.”