By Katina Handrinos, Julia Bae, & Anya Weerapana, Banner executive Staff

A highlight of being a part of The Banner’s executive staff is the opportunity to engage in a Switch Day with the Belmont Hill Panel editors. By shadowing the day-to-day lives of Belmont Hill students, we were able to better understand what it is like to attend a signifcantly different school. 

Banner and Panel Executives                Photo from Belmont Hill Communications

Our switch day began at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 11, with Chapel—BH’s version of assembly—which was focused on Veterans Day. There was a moving presentation from Math Teacher Mr. George about his brother-in-law Major Stephen Reich who served in the U.S. military and was killed in action in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. Hearing Mr. George’s reflections about the spirit and life of Mj. Reich, and his impact everywhere he went, was extremely powerful and reminded us of Winsor assemblies, especially the ones in which teachers have shared personal reflections to explore a larger topic.

After Chapel, we embarked on a full day of classes. Katina’s schedule included a wide array of subjects as she joined Ancient Greek, Page and Stage, AP Physics C, AP Chemistry, Jazz Band, and AP Latin. Similarly, Julia attended AP US History, AP American Literature,AP Chemistry, Global Economy, and Multivariable Calculus, learning about a variety of topics. Focusing more on language and the humanities, Anya sat in on Ancient Greek, AP American Literature, AP US History, Global Economy, and AP Latin. 

One of the biggest differences we noted was the schedule: the Belmont Hill school day ends at 2 p.m., with required sports practices lasting until 5 p.m., when their buses depart and students go home. Additionally, BH classes are 45 minutes long while Winsor’s Upper School classes are 75 minutes long. Three days a week, BH students attend each class for 45 minutes, and on Wednesdays and Thursdays, students have all of their classes one time for a 75-minute period. Having attended the 45-minute part of the week, however, we saw that students had little time to dive into new content, as it often took 10–15 minutes to settle down from side conversations, check in with pleasantries, or even longer to review the homework from the night before. Additionally, BH classes begin and end with a recorded bell over the intercom. We appreciated the bell because both teachers and students were aware of the start and end time of classes and timeliness seemed to be emphasized more. At Winsor, without an explicit announcement of class times, both teachers and students can lose track of time and end up late to their next class. 

One of our favorite aspects of BH was the large, wooden round tables included in all humanities classrooms. Although a simple piece of furniture, these tables bring all the students closer—quite literally—to foster a connected and familiar environment during discussions, whether students talk about Sweeney Todd or The Civil War. At Winsor, each room seems to have a different arrangement of desks or tables, and students are much more spread out, especially in the larger Connector rooms. The classes themselves are also notably different. Schedules at Belmont Hill were filled with AP offerings, whether it be in history, language, or science, whereas Winsor’s curriculum involves more electives for Classes VII and VIII, typically fitting with a teacher’s area of expertise or interest.

Some other differences were the dress code and parking options. All the Belmont Hill students wore blazers, a far reach from Winsor’s typical casual outfits of sweatpants and t-shirts. Anya was woefully unaware that, despite their formal getup with blazers, BH boys tend to wear sneakers with their slacks—she showed up in heeled dress shoes! We encountered another culture shock when first arriving on BH’s campus; we noticed the several parking lots around Belmont Hill’s campus, as well as one currently under construction. When we told Belmont Hill editors about the senior year struggles to secure a scarce spot in the Winsor parking lot, they were astounded that some students opt for the seriously overpriced Masco spots. 

All in all, we enjoyed our opportunity to explore the experience of a Belmont Hill student and appreciate the welcome from  Belmont Hill, The Panel editors, and their advisors Ms. Wallace and Ms. Zener! ☐