Andrew Leibowitz ’24
Although Mercersburg Academy’s population is made up of a majority of boarding students, a small population of the students comes from the local towns and communities within and around the greater Mercersburg area to make up a group of day students. Aside from dorm life, day students are an integral part of almost every aspect of the Mercersburg community.
Although boarders and day students share the same school, their experiences in the school can differ greatly. When asked about their opinion on being a day student, many responded with great amounts of positivity. “Honestly, it has been amazing,” says Reagan Houpt ’25, “Even though I don’t live on campus, I still feel like I’m welcomed and a part of the Mercersburg community.” Gianna Anthony ’25 says, “My experience at Mercersburg has been incredible, from the friendships I’ve developed to the challenging classes and PGAs.”
Even with all the upbeat remarks, there are challenges to being a day student. A common challenge is not living on campus. “It takes me thirty minutes to get to the academy, so it’s quite annoying when I have to stay there until late times.” says Sasha Horokh ’25. Others feel that it is sometimes inconvenient not to live right on campus when it comes to early morning practices and late games. “I feel like the school isn’t scheduled well because we have games early in the morning and some students have to drive fifteen to forty-five minutes just to get to school,” says Francis Betkowski ’23
Along with some long drives, day students have other issues with living off-campus. “I have major feelings of missing out when I see my friends get together late at night or on weekends when I am not on campus,” says Houpt, “I feel like I am missing out on a lot of fun when I decide to stay home. [The school] often forgets about day students when scheduling events, and they forget that you must get a ride from however far away you are in order to be on campus, which is challenging.” Taimur Rehman ’25 agrees: “I feel included as part of the Mercersburg community but at times I feel a bit disconnected, like I’m in two different places, not fully a part of either. I can’t one hundred percent be in either place, I’m limited in what I can do either at Mercersburg or home with my family and my other friends. I miss out on things in both places; that’s definitely the hardest part.”
Even with these downsides, the day student life has lots of extra perks. “Being a day student allows students to live the boarding school life without having to truly leave their friends, pets, and family from home,” says Jack Lewis ’25. Others feel the same: “I think the best part is going home at night,” says Ava Anthony ’23. “I get to sleep in my own bed and eat non-dining hall food on a regular basis, which is something I would definitely miss if I were a boarding student.”
Another challenge is the COVID-19 pandemic. “During COVID I definitely have felt more of a disconnect from the student body as a whole. I am often unsure of expectations in regards to when day students can be on campus and if I can enter dorms other than my own. The restrictions were definitely heavy on day students; however, I feel they were in the community’s best interest,” says Anthony. “The COVID-19 restrictions felt unfair in the moment,” says Horokh, “though I completely understand the school’s guidance in maintaining a safe environment for the students housed on campus.” Some students felt that fear caused by the pandemic led to some divide between boarding and day students. “Day students are more blocked out and resented because we are the ones who will ‘most likely’ bring [COVID onto] campus…. The school also locked some of us in the basements of dorms, in depressing classrooms, and separated us from everyone else last year,” says Betkowski.
Chris Howes, Assistant Head of School for Student Life and Culture admits, “This pandemic has led to a lot of people developing strong feelings about what is right and what is wrong and I imagine some students have treated some day students as though they are putting the school in danger. This is not fair, not appropriate, and I am disappointed this has occurred.”
With the administration creating lots of the rules and boundaries on campus, they have a great impact on day student life at Mercersburg. Acting Head of School Quentin McDowell says, “As a school, we need to be ever aware of this and be intentional in our programming and scheduling to try to ensure that everyone at Mercersburg feels properly included and engaged. To be honest, sometimes we do this really well and at other times we fall short, despite our best efforts. We have certainly taken intentional strides to improve the day student experience in recent years and conversations on how to continue improving occur regularly.”
From the student perspective, many seem to see little to no difference in treatment between day students and boarders. “I can’t see a difference between the treatment of day and boarding students,” says Horokh, “Both are expected to do the same things, attend the same classes, go on the same overnight field trips, etc.” Lewis says, “[During] my time at Mercersburg, I have never felt that I have been treated differently.”
Mercersburg demonstrates an obvious desire to ensure a positive and meaningful school experience for all students. “As things with the pandemic begin to settle, I am hopeful and confident that we can soon return to a place where the greatest difference for boarding and day students is just where they sleep. It will take time and work, which we are more than willing to invest,” says McDowell.
“We are also open to feedback,” adds Howes. “We are always open to having respectful dialogue and do not feel there is only one way to approach an issue.”