Throughout the opening weeks of the 2022-23 school year, Mr. Bradley, Mr. D’Ambrosio, and others have emphasized the theme of reengagement. A revamped Almanac, inspired by the theme, includes a new attendance policy and student readmission policy. This year also sees the implementation of the new Drug and Alcohol Policy. In this editorial, we would like to encourage students to embrace these new school policies, along with the idea of reengagement during this school year. 

In the past few years, the Covid pandemic and abuse of loopholes in the attendance policy created a serious attendance problem. All-school meetings in Walker were littered with empty seats, students racked up dozens of unexcused absences, and detention on Saturday evening often saw over 200 students in the Science Lecture Hall. The No Chance policy was equally detrimental to our community, as it provided no room for student growth and did not prioritize student health.

Throughout the past year, the administration worked together with students on improving these two policies. The attendance policy was discussed amongst administration and in StuFac during the Spring of 2022. Similarly, the Drug and Alcohol policy was reworked last winter and spring by students, trustees, and administration in tandem, including former all-school president Sydney Goldstein ’22 and former Dean of Community Life Mr. Steve McKibben.

Now that these two policies are firmly in place, it is up to the students to take advantage of the benefits the policies offer our community. We need to reengage with the school community and this entails respecting these policies. Missing classes consistently is not the norm at Hotchkiss, and neither is racking up detentions. While the new 7:45 a.m. Wednesday morning detention and referral to the Disciplinary Committee for 12 unexcused absences in a marking period are great incentives to attend class, we ought to be going to class for our love of learning and community, not just to avoid consequences. Let’s not try to game the attendance system; simply, show up. 

Under the new Drug and Alcohol policy, the practice of risking our peers’ safety to avoid expulsion or disciplinary consequences must end. As friends, proctors, and peers, sometimes we need to face the possibility of reporting on other students for the sake of their health and safety. Depending on the level of offense, the Drug and Alcohol Policy includes possible suspension from leadership positions and being placed on Warning or General Probation. This all constitutes room for self-improvement. Reporting others will never be easy, but this policy provides leeway for reform instead of expulsion. 

While we may understand the initial pushback to these policies, we hope that students can accept these policies for the better good of our community and allow them to help us all.