In the first article of this series, we outlined the conceptual shift of taking summer program from an extrinsic activity, only marginally important to the school, to an intrinsic activity that is central to the school’s mission. In this article, we outline some key questions from the upper school student’s point of view. The principal objection to the third semester has nothing to do with organization, faculty, money, or facilities. Rather, the principal objection is voiced by the student: I can’t imagine doing in the third semester what I’ve been doing all year. A third “semester” cannot be successful if the other two semesters are not considered—by the students themselves—as being of high value, entertaining, inspirational, and engaging.

There has been a raging battle over the past three decades around the kind of schedule that best benefits students. This has, generally speaking, taken two sides. On one side are those who have hewn to a “traditional” schedule of seven 40-minute periods a day, with every class meeting every day for the entire year.1 On the other side are those who have embraced what is known as the “block” schedule. This has many variations. In its pure form, it is structured as four 90-minute periods a day with each class meeting daily for a semester. The classes then change and the format is repeated.2 The following table delineates the major technical differences between these two types of schedule.

In a recent article on endowment, we wrote: “Endowment is no panacea for poor governance, overreaching debt, or an unwillingness to charge what it costs. However, in a school that is mature in its governance and operations, endowment will be a powerful aid to enhance the school’s ability to deliver its mission.” While the optimum gift is unrestricted, many donors are inspired to donate in support of faculty excellence, thus directing their gift for a specific purpose. Setting up such an endowment is not quite as simple as just putting money in the bank. The following suggestions for both organization and intent are meant to provide guidance and to stimulate your own thinking. All boxed comments are illustrative only.

There are times in which curriculum offerings and student choices result in the need for additional program or course sections that cannot be taught by full-time faculty. There are five types of “part-time” faculty.

There are two long-believed axioms about adolescent sleep: (1) as children reach adolescence, they go to bed and get up at later hours; and (2) adolescent sleep deprivation is a widespread phenomenon. The National Sleep Foundation’s survey and research, as well as that of others, has established the support for these axioms.1 Adolescent sleep patterns undergo a “phase delay;” the typical upper school student’s natural time to fall asleep is 11:00 pm or later. Despite adolescents needing 8.5–9.25 hours, the average teen gets approximately 7.5 hours of sleep a night; 62% of 9th–12th graders report insufficient amounts (i.e., less than eight hours) of sleep; and only 3% of seniors get “optimal” sleep on school nights. Adolescents do not adjust their bed times in response to changes in the time of day that school begins, so an hour later start time translates to about an hour of additional sleep.