This fall, the school made significant changes to its detention policy. These modifications aimed to address ongoing challenges with attendance, chief among them the never-ending cycle of detentions and absences that some students fall into.

Last year, students received their first detention after two unexcused absences and then another detention for each subsequent absence. Detention took place on Wednesday mornings from 8-8:45 a.m. Students who missed detention in the morning would then be assigned detention in the dorm from 9-10 that evening. The policy was clear that one could not simply opt out of morning detention for evening detention.

This new system did not remain in place for long. Mr. Andrew D’Ambrosio, dean of student life, said, “We attempted to make the detention policy more flexible last year, and that flexibility was egregiously exploited, so we had to move to a different model.”

Under the new model, students will receive their first detention after their third absence in a marking period, and one detention for every subsequent missed commitment. When they reach their third, sixth and ninth absences, the student’s parents or guardians will also be alerted, with the letter of notice increasing in severity after each absence. Failing to attend a detention will be considered another absence, and therefore earn another detention. Similar to past policies, detention is only tied to attendance.

The Almanac’s new policy states, “Detention is held on Tuesday evenings from 9:05 p.m. to 9:55 p.m.” This is free time for all students to be outside of the dorm. Since activities are often held during this time, receiving detention potentially means missing out on an exciting event.

For instance, Blue and White held the annual Taft Day Pep Rally during this time. Ethan Li-Kato ’27, who served detention instead of attending the rally, said, “I had two hard days in a row where I had major assignments, and I stayed up studying for them. I slept through class on both of those days and it gave me a detention, which I accepted, but needing to miss the pep rally as a result felt overly cruel. I was actually trying to be a good student by staying up, but just slept past my alarm both days.”

Thus far, teachers, students and parents have not expressed concern to the deans. “No one has come to my office or reached out to invite a conversation or offer feedback about detention this year,” said Mr. D’Ambrosio.

In general, and as the policy states in the Almanac, “students should not expect detentions to be rescheduled. Detention is not supposed to be convenient for the attendee.” Ultimately, if students wish to avoid detention, they should attend their classes.