NewsUpper School
Darlington’s New House System Established
May 1, 2000 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
In an amazingly short period of four months, plans for Darlington’s overhaul of student life have been nearly finalized.
Student enthusiasm about next year’s reorganization of student life can be seen in the number of students applying for leadership positions: “On average, we had 25 students in each house request application forms for prefect positions,” President David Hicks said. “This speaks volumes for the maturity of our students and their desire to accept weighty responsibilities.”
Next year, most of school life will be mediated through the houses. Student prefects in each house – day and resident – will coordinate academic support and tutoring, community service, intra-house competition, religious life, social events, and off-campus activities.
“I’m thrilled at the way it’s working out that day students and dorm students are coming together,” Hicks said.
The house senate, made up of the heads of house and the student prefects, will meet regularly to discuss house business and school governance issues. Student prefects will serve on the school’s Academic Committee, Discipline Committee, Admission Committee, and Alumni Council.
“The house senate is going to be wonderful,” Hicks said. “It’s a completely new concept in school government.”
While Hicks expects to see life in each house take on the character of its head and the students living there, he says the school will make a conscious effort to keep each house well balanced and diverse. This is especially important since the houses will compete with one another in a wide range of activities ranging from debate and chess to flag football and beach volleyball. Annually, each house will also sponsor a school-wide dance and stage a theatrical production.
Each house will also support a service organization in Rome, and members of the house will be expected to adopt strong ties to that organization and to spend time in community service. Each house will participate in the freshman orientation program, in which freshmen are made to feel welcome in Darlington’s Upper School and in the life of their respective houses.
Each house, with the support of the house senate, will also prepare its members to assume leadership responsibilities as prefects. Although the head of each house is a potent figure on campus and the primary point of contact with parents whose children are members of the house, much of the management of each house will rest with the student prefects, who are carefully selected for their positions and work closely with the head of house and the faculty members of the house.
- The Upper School campus has been divided into six houses, defined physically by six dormitories (two of the original four dormitories have been split in two). Heads of the six houses have been appointed: Reba Barnes, Walt Steadman, Casey Zimmer, Mindy Gibbons, Lori Harris, and Greg Griffeth. All day and resident students have been assigned a house (each will have approximately 35 resident and 45 day students), as well as all faculty.
- A student and faculty group, the Perfect House Committee, was charged to rethink and rewrite Darlington’s systems governing residential and day student life. Composed of the six heads of house, the director of residential life, and 13 students selected by the student body in a special election held Feb. 22, the committee took a hard look at rules and regulations, revamped the adviser-advisee program, created a new program for inter- and intra-house activities, invented a new system for student government, assigned students and faculty to the six houses, and developed a new orientation program for the fall.
- Student prefects have now been appointed in each house, including head prefects, who will serve as assistant to the head of house (one resident and one day student); house managers, who will serve as house secretary (one resident student); social event prefects, who will plan and promote events in their house (one resident student); and academic prefects, who will help oversee the academic status of the students in the house (one resident and one day student). See the sidebar on the back cover for the names of next year’s appointed prefects.
- Prefects for religious life, community service, intramurals, and student activities will be elected on May 11. There will be two prefects, one resident and one day, for religious life and student activities, and one prefect, either resident or day, for community service and intramurals.
Student enthusiasm about next year’s reorganization of student life can be seen in the number of students applying for leadership positions: “On average, we had 25 students in each house request application forms for prefect positions,” President David Hicks said. “This speaks volumes for the maturity of our students and their desire to accept weighty responsibilities.”
Next year, most of school life will be mediated through the houses. Student prefects in each house – day and resident – will coordinate academic support and tutoring, community service, intra-house competition, religious life, social events, and off-campus activities.
“I’m thrilled at the way it’s working out that day students and dorm students are coming together,” Hicks said.
The house senate, made up of the heads of house and the student prefects, will meet regularly to discuss house business and school governance issues. Student prefects will serve on the school’s Academic Committee, Discipline Committee, Admission Committee, and Alumni Council.
“The house senate is going to be wonderful,” Hicks said. “It’s a completely new concept in school government.”
While Hicks expects to see life in each house take on the character of its head and the students living there, he says the school will make a conscious effort to keep each house well balanced and diverse. This is especially important since the houses will compete with one another in a wide range of activities ranging from debate and chess to flag football and beach volleyball. Annually, each house will also sponsor a school-wide dance and stage a theatrical production.
Each house will also support a service organization in Rome, and members of the house will be expected to adopt strong ties to that organization and to spend time in community service. Each house will participate in the freshman orientation program, in which freshmen are made to feel welcome in Darlington’s Upper School and in the life of their respective houses.
Each house, with the support of the house senate, will also prepare its members to assume leadership responsibilities as prefects. Although the head of each house is a potent figure on campus and the primary point of contact with parents whose children are members of the house, much of the management of each house will rest with the student prefects, who are carefully selected for their positions and work closely with the head of house and the faculty members of the house.
