INSIDE THE BUBBLE

Past Four in Review: Growth in a Time of Upheaval

By Mary Zheng ’25 Editor-in-Chief

It was the toughest of times; it was the sweetest of times. It was a time of social distancing and online learning; it was a time of acai bowls on Friday mornings.

Over the past four years, Porter’s has weathered its share of upheaval, from a global pandemic to a series of internal curriculum and policy shifts. Through it all, the community continued to send away graduating classes and welcome new members. As the class of 2025 prepares their path to a new life beyond Porter’s, I’d like to look back on some of the changes they witnessed during their time on this campus.

Academic reform has been front and center – for students and faculty alike. The fall of 2021 was the first time Advanced Interdisciplinary Seminars (AIS) were taught instead of APs, leaving students feeling a mix of skepticism and relief. The new courses are more flexible in their syllabi and less expansive in their content. They offer a departure from the rigid test-prep model of APs in hope of encouraging deeper, more creative learning.

Despite a trimester schedule, yearlong math and language courses were still up and running. Back then, students sat through 40-minute language blocks, half the length of what they are now. The aftermath of COVID-19 lingered. Morning Meetings consisted of online all-school Zoom calls (no tech issue too great for a quick restart). Students gathered in the library with take-out lunches to grind through summatives. For ninth-graders things were a little lighter: for the first time, their classes were graded pass/fail.

Then came the two-block classes – Global Intensives. Juniors flew to Costa Rica, France and Germany amid rooming mishaps and inevitable friendship drama. Working in groups of three or four, teachers seem to have learned more than students about how to work better in a team.

2022.

Outside the classroom, Student Life has worked hard to make Porter’s more parent friendly. No more plastic bags or tomato pranks for German, fearing backlash from New Girl families. Little Meeting is now for “a family audience.” Any suggestive dance moves risk immediate removal from the event. Full impersonations of “Alejandro” and “SexyBack” may soon be little more than legend to the Class of 2029.

Traditions weren’t the only thing scaled back – so were phones. Starting the fall of 2024, cell phone use is no longer allowed during the academic day. Besides their teaching job, faculty have now picked up the side-hustle of (unpaid) bounty hunting – for phones.

In the meantime, disposable utensils were removed from the servery as an attempt to encourage more frequent in-person interactions during mealtimes. This decision was met with grumbles but soon became routine. A bigger change in the dining hall is a catering company switch up. FLIK started off strong in 2022, replacing Brock with more popular entrees and diverse fruit choices. The upgrade was well received. Ice cream and bao buns at the create station became instant favorites.

Leadership structures also saw major reshuffling, which provoked much nerves and anticipation. Gone are the dual roles of Head of Main and Head of New Girl. In their place, the Nova Nine introduced two new positions: Head of Academics and Head of Day Students. Additionally, each student is now limited to holding three leadership positions – a change that sparked much contention about opportunity and burnout.

Despite the friction, one thing is clear: Students have learned to adapt. If nothing else, the seniors may have just really become the informed and resourceful global citizens Porter’s hopes to cultivate. Not all learning happens on a trimester schedule – some of it takes four years and a front row seat in fickle high school politics.