Shadow Days Now Visit Mornings
By: Genevieve M.
For the 2023-2024 school year, SEM has decided to incorporate visit mornings for potential future SEM students. “Visit mornings are an opportunity where eighth-grade students and their families can experience how a morning at SEM works,” Natalie Dunlap ‘24, SEM’s Red Key President explained. In previous years, SEM had shadow days, but decided to switch to visit morning since “visit mornings are a little more interactive for everyone.” Unlike on shadow days, eighth-grade students can bring their parents or guardians with them to visit SEM. Since SEM has a long school day, there were concerns over shadows staying for a whole day. On shadow days, eighth-grade students “don’t get a laptop, and if you’re taking a test in a class, they don’t really have anything to do, and it just gets kind of boring and repetitive.”
On visit mornings, a family usually stays at SEM for around three hours. According to Natalie, families arrive at 7:30 in the morning, and then leave at around 10:30. This shortened time frame allows for visiting families to see all SEM has to offer in a shorter time than shadow days.
So far, SEM has received a lot of positive feedback from visiting families. Natalie Dunlap ‘24 explained that “families love to see first-hand how classrooms at SEM run as well as having the opportunity to hear from faculty, administration, and current SEM students.” The shorter time period has been proven successful as well, hearing “that prospective students like how they can experience classes without having to spend their whole day in school.” Visit mornings have proven to be a successful addition to SEM for all involved.
Genevieve Manuele
Genevieve is a sophomore at SEM. She likes to ride horses outside of school and write in her free time.
About Author
