A History of Lawrenceville’s Academic Schedules

          Lawrenceville has been growing and changing ever since its establishment in 1810. One of the most important aspects of the institution’s day-to-day functions is its academic schedule, which has adapted to new students and norms several times throughout Lawrenceville’s history. 

          In 1883, the John C. Green Foundation began running Lawrenceville, marking the first major change to Lawrenceville’s original academic schedule. This takeover  restructured the model of the academic  day along with many of the School’s other practices. In 1905, Lawrenceville added an eighth “intermission period” in the middle of the day. The Winter Term had a unique schedule, which included two additional class periods in the evening, the last of which did not begin until 5:15 PM. It was with this schedule thatLawrenceville instituted half days on Saturdays. This change evoked mixed responses. However, according to former Dean of Academics David Laws P’21 ’23, “students and faculty will ultimately adapt to whatever schedule they end up with and will do just fine. There will be some growing pains—there always are.” 

          By the late 1960s, the evening classes had been removed. The schedule returned to seven class periods and lunch each term. The seasonal divide had also shifted, with a unique schedule during the Fall Term. The Spring and Einter terms lengthened 40-minute periods to 45 minutes, and afternoon classes were removed on both Wednesdays and Saturdays. Over the next 15 years, the number of periods in a day decreased once again. By 1983, not only had the number of periods per day been reduced to five, but the seasonal schedules had been eliminated. The class day now had a consultation period directly following lunch. The final period and consultation could also be converted into a lab period. This system did not last long: in 1986, the School made the shift to have six 50-minute periods, requiring that students take five classes each. Furthermore, School Meeting was instituted that same year. 

          What is now a staple of the Lawrenceville week came as a shock to students at the time. In a 1987 Opinions article for The Lawrence,  Tim Levy ’88 wrote that “every student has voiced his opinion on the new schedule, and almost all reactions have been negative. But there is also a positive side,” including the potential to take more classes, the opportunity to showcase student talent and the Student Council’s reforms in School Meeting. 

          Leading up to the 21st century, there was some form of School Meeting nearly everyday. Because a lab block overlapped with the 25-minute consultation period, science teachers could rarely hold open consultations. During the 1998-99 school year, the schedule was changed once again to address this problem by including two 20-minute consultations per day except for Wednesday and Saturday. As is true in our current schedule, Wednesdays had one consultation block and Saturdays had none. As Laws puts it, “passing periods” are important to consider when crafting new schedules. “You have to give people long enough to grab some new books, get something to drink, [or] go to the bathroom,” he noted. To accommodate the added consultation, the administration had originally planned to shorten passing periods to five minutes. This proposed shift was met with widespread disapproval from students and faculty. In response, the new schedule included 10-minute passing periods—but half of the day’s classes were shortened to 45 minutes. 

          
          In addition, starting in 1988, School Meeting no longer happened weekly. Instead, one of the Monday consultations could become a School Meeting. The daily community and advisory meetings stayed. This new schedule was, once again, met with mixed opinions. 

          The 2000s came with many changes to the class schedule as well. Each period became 55 minutes, and lab blocks were instituted for advanced classes only. Furthermore, each day was made up of four classes, reducing the homework load for students. Unfortunately, this change also decreased the length of consultation and shortened the lunch period. A 2007 edition of The Lawrence conducted a survey in which one teacher suggested that classes should be shortened to 50 minutes to add more time to lunch and consultation. The survey also found that “almost half of the students surveyed ‘often’ or ‘always’ lose focus [during] an ordinary class period.” Soon after, the suggestion was implemented. 

          The schedule additionally included later start times on Saturdays and Thursdays. Laws noted that this schedule, too, had a few flaws: “Wednesday had four classes, so it went [on for] longer and lunch was later. It was universally thought that Wednesday was the worst day of the week.” This problem was fixed with the following iteration of the schedule. 

          In 2013, the then Head of School entertained the idea of moving away from Saturday classes. The “Saturday Class Commitee” was made, and part of Laws’ job was to “create different models of how [things could be done]...and how [they] would eliminate Saturday classes but not impact the academic schedule.”

          The idea was that Wednesdays could alternate between two three-period combinations. Just like that, Wednesday turned from a strenuous day to a midweek oasis in what is our current schedule. As a result of student and faculty proposals, once again, minor adjustments were made to adapt to problems.

          With the upcoming change to the academic program, examining Lawrenceville’s historic schedules becomes more important than ever. As always, the new plan has been developed to fit the current needs of the Lawrenceville community. The rotating nature takes into account students’ performance at different points in the day. The change also allows for easy adjustment to unexpected changes. As Dean of Academics Bernadette Teeley P’24 explains, “[teachers] just strike that day...[and they are] not constantly adjusting a calendar to meet last minute changes.” 80-minute classes reduce homework loads and allow science classes to conduct labs on any class day. 

          Change can be difficult, and many are apprehensive about the new schedule. This constant cycle of adaptation is not new; for centuries, the academic agenda has been a hot topic for debate. Just like every previous one, however, the new schedule will continue to be refined to fit the needs of the Lawrenceville community.