No More Reading Day

This December, students were perplexed to learn the news that it would be the first year without a reading day. It came as a shock to many that the beloved Monday before exams, when students could ask their teachers last-minute questions and study with their classmates, would be no more. When discussing the announcement with students, there seemed to be a shared feeling of disappointment. Walton Staley ‘26 said, “To only say reading day was helpful would be an understatement. For myself specifically, I learn much more effectively when I am interacting with the teacher and have an adequate space to feel vulnerable, especially when it comes to exam material.” 

Mr. Ledyard explained that the decision was a collaborative conclusion from the Tri-Schools, saying “This was something that Ms. [Emily] Fetting (Bryn Mawr Head of Upper School) and Ms. [Sara] Rollfinke (Roland Park Head of School) discussed last spring and certainly over the summer.” The main problem stemmed behind both the inefficiency of reading day as well as the lack of students who actually participated in it. Mr. Ledyard explained that it was difficult to format the day effectively, mentioning, “I think at Gilman, Mr. Huebeck and I tried lots of different ways of doing it right. Do we have prescribed slots organized by even and odd periods? Do we leave it wide open? Do we have a sign up sheet? We handled reading day in a lot of different ways, and we never felt like it was well utilized.” Another concern that Mr. Ledyard raised was that teachers were still dishing out assessments the week before exams, including on Thursday and Friday. He felt that it was unfair for students to have assessments during this pre-exam period that might take away from exam studying. Thus, he hoped that by removing reading day and conveying to teachers to treat Thursday and Friday as such, that the pre-exam week could be utilized more effectively and be less stressful for students. He said, “I think the idea here was that if we are really clear with the Upper School faculty of what days are review days and what days can’t have assessments then that would ideally provide more review in a more structured way…Thursday and Friday should serve as two readings days, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday should be major assessment free.” 

Mr. Ledyard also remarked that many students didn’t use reading day at all, and simply took it as a free day off. He claimed, “Utilization rate was pretty low…and even for the people that used it, they often had to choose between math and science.” He explained that it was difficult for teachers with multiple classes across multiple grade levels to schedule reading day times that did not conflict with other classes. Mr. Ledyard concluded that he is simply trying to do what’s best for students’ studying. He also made it clear that this is not set in stone, it was just an attempt to see if this new format worked better. 

Gilman students did not take the news lightly. Billy Smyth ‘26 told the News that he came to reading day for about the same time as a normal school day and found it very helpful. He said, "The most helpful aspect of reading day was having access to both peers and teachers to clear up any lingering questions after a long weekend of studying.” When asked what his emotional reaction was when he first heard the announcement, he simply responded “confusion.” Grayson Capodanno ‘25 also enjoyed reading day, especially for getting the answers to those last minute questions. When asked about his reaction, he said, “I think I was just disappointed that we didn’t have that extra day to review material before exams.” Izumo Iijima ‘27 shared Grayson’s disappointment. He said, “Reading Day was a space to ask teachers about any unit that I individually may not have fully grasped. I felt displeased and disappointed when I heard that reading day was removed.” Like Billy, Izumo enjoyed having a space to ask any last minute, lingering questions. Walton, who claims he has come to reading day ever since he was a freshman, explained that reading day was very effective for trying to improve his scores, and helped to clear up confusion. He mentioned, “First I was angry and then that anger turned into disappointment, although I could see why the administration would get rid of it.” 

It seems that students' two primary areas of concern were having a space for last minute questions and last minute review. A large majority of the studying for exams is done the Saturday and Sunday before, even if more time is given the week before. Some teachers, such as Laura Soden, have accounted for this problem by inviting students to email them any questions they get while studying that weekend. 

In the wise words of Walton, it is important to trust the administration’s decisions and thought process. There was no ill intent behind removing reading day, Mr. Ledyard simply thought that by having Thursday and Friday as review days, there would be a more structured review period that was free from the conflicts and under-utilization that plagued reading day. But were Thursday and Friday actually used as “Reading Days,” or was other work still done? It also has been made clear that change could be made in the future if a more effective way to review arises. It seems that students are most worried about lingering questions from the weekend, so maybe a simple change, such as Ms. Soden’s policy, could help clear this up. As exam results unfold, students wait in angst to discover whether the absence of the ‘24 reading day will have a detrimental impact on their grade. At least for now, reading day at Gilman is no more.