Every year, Parents Weekend allows the parents of Choate students to visit the School for a few days and interact with the community. Although the School cancelled the on-campus component of Parents Weekend last year due to the pandemic, they have implemented changes to ensure that families can safely visit in-person this year. These new safety measures include hosting events outdoors, requiring masks and social distancing at indoor events, capping attendance at indoor events to allow for social distancing, and creating outdoor dining space for visitors.
In preparation for Parents Weekend, the School has a select group of faculty members overseeing the changes; among them are Medical Director Dr. Miriam Cohen, Director of Parent Relations Ms. Jordan Abbott, and the Director of Studies Mr. Kevin Rogers. A diverse lineup of hybrid information sessions and in-person art performances are planned for the weekend.
However, one key component of previous years’ Parents Weekends that will be missing from this year’s lineup due to Covid-19 protocols is having visitors enter academic buildings and going through an ordinary class day with their student. Ms. Abbott said, “The biggest thing that I think parents will miss is being able to attend classes with their children and getting to see the dorms. I received lots of positive feedback last January about virtual conferences, so I think they are a welcome addition to our Parents’ Weekend lineup.”
Math teacher Dr. Jessica Pfeil reflected on the liveliness of having families join classes live. “Pre-Covid, I always liked to have students solve some problems up at the boards during those classes, and sometimes parents would get up and join in with their child trying to solve the problem, or at the very least, just enjoyed getting to see what their child’s class environment was like and feel pride in watching their child tackle some tough problems,” she said.
One particular group of students that will be affected by the changes to Parents Weekend are the students in the Science Research Program (SRP). Not being able to show her posters of her summer research to parents, SRP member Lisa Ji ’22 said, “It’s a little disappointing that I don’t get to show my work to a bigger community since the parents are not allowed to see them.” However, she still “hopes that when prospective families come to visit for school tours, they will be able to see our work.”
Although parents won’t be able to attend, Saturday classes are still being held to encourage families to stay on campus and gain insight into the Choate experience. Dr. Pfeil said, “I believe the rationale for still having classes on Saturday even though the parents cannot attend classes is it will keep students on campus so parents can still visit on a day they are not working and attend sporting events, and overall get an opportunity to experience the community we have here on campus.”
However, some students are disappointed by the addition of Saturday classes. Fifth-former Evan Wu ’23 said, “I personally wish the schedule didn’t change that much, but I understand that parents want to see how school life is at Choate.”
With the ongoing pandemic, international families still struggle with traveling to campus due to safety concerns and travel restrictions. Ji suggested, “One way that international students’ parents can be included in parent weekend activities is by incorporating hybrid events, such as concerts, classes, and activities.”
