By Julia Bae, Banner Staff

Since entering the Upper School, I have quickly realized how integral clubs are to Winsor: they allow students to explore their interests outside of the classroom while engaging with students in other grades. I have also recognized and repeatedly heard some of the difficulties posed by the current club schedule. The purpose of this article is to, without any criticism towards Collect or Winsor, outline and address some of the common issues that arise from the club schedule.

From talking to a variety of club heads and attendees, it’s safe to say the most common complaint about the club schedule is that the bulk of clubs are scheduled during lunch. Not only do some students feel that lunch should be a designated break from academics, but having multiple clubs scheduled during the same 35-40 minute block poses additional logistical challenges. For example, Caitlin Wang ’25, co-head of Amnesty Club, shared that, “Amnesty has always been a very popular club in past years, but we’ve seen a significant decrease in attendance this past year since larger clubs with overlapping interests, such as Model UN, also meet at the same time. We’re hoping to move the club to Day 6 to give more people the opportunity to attend Amnesty meetings.” Other minor challenges of lunch club meetings include additional crowding in the lunch hallway and the food odor that lingers in classrooms.

The solution to this issue may be similar to the one Wang discussed for Amnesty—scheduling clubs with similar interests on different cycle days—rather than trying to shift club meetings out of the lunch block. Furthermore, the two alternative times when clubs can meet are outside of school or during community time; this fact poses additional conflicts with affinity groups, sports, teacher meetings, and other extracurricular activities. 

Ms. Ramos, head of Upper School, also noted that in 2015, Winsor proposed a schedule change to move clubs out of lunch and into designated club periods instead. Given the option, “students did not want to have their clubs during community time periods… it seemed to be their preference to have them during lunch.” Therefore, it seems that lunch, while potentially inconvenient, ultimately remains the best time for club meetings.

On the other hand, alternating club cycles seem to pose challenges without yielding substantial benefits. Clubs meet little enough as it is—with only about thirty cycles in a school year—and dividing that time in half would potentially prohibit clubs from having enough time to organize events, complete projects, or even bond as a group. Karina Artemiev ’25, co-head of Spanish Club, described how “due to the alternating cycle, we’ve been able to meet a very limited amount of times, and we haven’t been able to get to know everyone in our club as well as normal.” Artemiev also mentioned that Spanish Club had wanted to remain a regular, non-alternating club, like it had been in the past, but that Collect had made it alternating. They’ve also now faced challenges organizing their typical events because of the adjusted schedule.

Moving forward, recognizing that one system cannot work perfectly for all clubs, I believe that removing alternating-cycle clubs but maintaining the rest of Winsor’s current club schedule will best serve the diverse interests of both students and clubs at Winsor. ☐

Model UN, a High-Commitment Club, having a Full Meeting during Lunch, photo from Julia Bae