As I sit here proctoring the first session of Lower School Saturday School for 2006-2007, what better to do than let you know a little more about this MUS institution.
When a Lower School student gets a demerit, that student is required to attend Saturday School the following Saturday. To give students and parents enough notice, the Saturday School list is posted first thing each Thursday morning; any offenses worthy of a demerit that occur after the list is posted will be served the following Saturday.
Q. What is "Saturday School"?
A. Well, it's not really school, though it does take place at school. Lower School students with demerits are required to come into school on Saturday morning as a penalty for their offense.
Q. When does Saturday School start and where does it take place?
A. 7 a.m. SHARP. It's very important for your son to be at Saturday School on time (just as it will be important in his future for him to get his taxes filed on time). Saturday School takes place in the Dunavant Lecture Hall of the Lower School, where your son goes for study hall and Lower School assemblies.
Q. What do boys have to wear to Saturday School?
A. General weekday school dress code is in effect. Failure to dress properly may result in additional demerits and another visit to Saturday School.
Q. What does my son have to bring to Saturday School?
A. He must bring a pencil and writing paper. Failure to bring the required materials may result in additional demerits and another visit to Saturday School.
Q. What does my son do in Saturday School?
A. He sits in silence and writes out rules from George Washington's Rules of Civility. This is a traditional penalty at MUS designed to be unpleasant while subliminally infusing some worthwhile thoughts about proper conduct of a gentleman. One of my MUS classmates, bestselling author Hampton Sides, has said that writing Washington's Rules of Civility is one of his clearest memories from his days in the Lower School.
Q. What happens if my family is going out of town or otherwise committed when my son has to go to Saturday School?
A. In most instances, that won't be an excuse for your son to be absent from Saturday School. As Joe Tyler is fond of saying to the boys, "Gentlemen, if you have tickets to the UT game in Knoxville next weekend, then you should be very careful not to do anything that would get you a demerit." Obviously, if there is some unforeseeable emergency, the school will deal with that situation reasonably on a case-by-case basis.
Q. What happens if my son is absent from Saturday School?
A. In general, his penalty is doubled and must be served the following two Saturdays. One 30-minute Saturday School becomes two 30-minute Saturday School served in consecutive weeks. Missing two Saturday Schools usually results in an in-school suspension.
Q. What happens if my son is late to Saturday School?
A. In general, being late to Saturday School is equivalent to having missed Saturday School completely. Being on time is part of the penalty, and allowing students to arrive late subverts the disciplinary value of Saturday School. As I would recommend for any important appointment (job interview, IRS audit, etc.), students should err on the side of being a few minutes early rather than a few minutes late.
Q. My son received the demerit, but Saturday School inconveniences me because I have to drive him there and waste my time sitting in the MUS parking lot or otherwise killing time. Why don't you just penalize my son?
A. The Lower School tried that at one point, but Saturday School is a much more effective penalty. To be honest, we like our parents, but Saturday School is designed to inconvenience both the boy and his parents; that way, boy, parent and school are all on the same side in working together to encourage proper in-school conduct.
When we just assigned sets of rules for infractions, some boys would toil away on them time after time, but their parents remained oblivious to their sons' conduct shortcomings. As a result, despite the encouragement of the school and escalating penalties, the student's conduct would not improve because there was no support from home.
Saturday School is an extremely efficient method of encouraging parents to take an active interest in their sons' conduct at school. We expect that in many cases, improved conduct/discipline at school will translate into improved conduct/discipline at home, so there's a benefit to the family from this process.
Since most Lower School students need a parent's assistance to get them to Saturday School, they need to tell their parents each time they get a demerit. This provides an excellent opportunity for the parent to ask their son about the infraction and encourage them not to try harder.
As Clay mentioned in Lower School orientation, approximately 50% of the boys finished last year with no demerits and consequently had no Saturday Schools, proving it is very possible for boys to flourish within the rules set out for them. Many other boys incurred only one or two demerits, supporting the idea that a visit to Saturday School (and dealing with an unhappy parent before and after Saturday School) is a powerful incentive for most boys to achieve proper in-school conduct.
If you have more questions about Saturday School, pass them along, and I'll add them to this post.