The 2023 school year at Ransom Everglades came with a freshly pedicured lawn, a new Raider logo, and… the RE Way?
The RE Way, an updated version of the school’s mission statement, articulates the goals of RE through a set of core values: “Joy & Wellbeing, Service & Outreach, Support & Community, Diversity & Inclusion, Honor & Excellence.”
This new mission places a renewed emphasis on student wellbeing, which is now enshrined as the first Core Value. And the school has already taken several steps to enhance this aspect of students’ lives. “Blackout days” were introduced during which students are not allowed to have homework due, promoting a better balance between school life and leisure time. Mrs. Isis Perez-Gonzalez, RE’s Director of Counseling, has spoken more frequently in assemblies to share wellness practices with students. RE also made changes to its schedule, starting 15 minutes later—a minor adjustment that, though acknowledged positively by students, has had minimal impact on many students’ daily routines.
But the school has also implemented some more consequential new policies. The first is a change that made end-of- semester assessments worth 10% rather than 20% of a student’s semester grade. We wholeheartedly endorse this change. Not only will it make the student body more relaxed when it comes to midterms and finals; it will also allow students to feel more in control of their grades. 20% of a grade coming from one exam meant that if you were a bad test taker, the EOS could undermine months of hard work and study. Now, with a lesser 10%, your grade won’t fall anywhere near as much.
The second policy change gives teachers the ability to override a lower first-semester grade with a higher second-semester grade if a student excels in the second semester. This might be the best addition ever to the Handbook. Students will now have more motivation to try their hardest after a poor first semester.
These changes in the Handbook offer students a fairer shot at success and a more supportive learning experience. It’s a step in the right direction for everyone in the RE community.
At the same time, we also feel obliged to acknowledge that changing the stress culture at RE cannot happen overnight, or in a purely top-down way. This is in part because so much of it is driven by college admissions.
Alongside the RE Way comes another change: This year, Ransom Everglades students are embarking on the college admissions process in ninth grade, earlier than ever before. In the most recent issue of the RE Log, Executive Director of College Counseling Mr. Jason Locke explained that “higher education admissions leaders have long been reluctant to engage high school students too early in the admissions process” because it “would simply add to the stress and frenzy surrounding college admissions.” Looking at “the national admissions landscape,” however, he felt it necessary to begin earlier at RE, starting with “college counseling seminars for Grades 9 and 10 during advisory.”
We acknowledge that, in today’s hyper-competitive college admissions landscape, it makes sense for students to start preparing and strategizing earlier—and that, as Mr. Locke put it, “educating the RE community earlier” may reduce stress in some ways by “help families feel more comfortable with the process.”
But we cannot help but feel that this change is at odds with the RE Way’s emphasis on student wellness. Beginning the admissions process at the age of 14 could hinder personal development and cut childhood even shorter than it already is. It will almost certainly steer students toward activities that look best on their college applications, not those that they enjoy the most.
Many upperclassmen wish we had had more time to explore our interests without the looming pressures of college admissions. We remember frantically Googling in freshman year if our transcripts would look unfavorable to an admissions officer if we switched sports—and choosing not to switch instead of potentially pursuing something we would love. To any freshman reading this, it may often feel like what sport or club you belong in, or even whether you are a “STEM” kid or “humanities” kid, is predetermined before you walk through the Upper School gates. It is crucial to remember that the person you are today is not the same person you will be tomorrow. Interests change, and so do people.
We are not saying that college preparation and wellness cannot co-exist. But a balance needs to be met. We hope the RE Way will foster personal development by giving students more time to explore their interests away from academic pressures. We also hope that the RE Way does not end up being undermined by changes that burden students earlier, and more often, with anxieties related to the admissions process.
