Moorestown Friends canceled all classes after 9:15 a.m. on Friday, November 10 after a majority of Upper School students expressed interest in attending the Boys’ Soccer State Non-Public B Championship game held at Franklin High School at 11 a.m.
In an email from Upper School Director Noah Rachlin to students, he expressed that Upper School administration moved to alter Friday’s plan because the Upper School “won’t have a sufficient number of students to hold classes for students who do not attend the game.”
Chartering fan buses for MFS students to attend high-profile games is not a new phenomenon; instead, this game is characterized by its early start time on a weekday. Fan buses have been utilized for sports including boys’ and girls’ soccer, girls’ basketball, and baseball in past years. The difference between past games and this particular game is its time of day. In the past, championship-level games have either been held on Saturdays or in the evening, both times eliminating a conflict with the school day.
“At the most, maybe [they canceled] last period if enough people went, but that’s it. The games have never been this early on a school day,” said Math Department Chair Katie LuBrant, who is a former US field hockey coach.
To encourage more student attendance at the game, MFS extended the permission slip deadline for students, stating, “If interested in joining at this time, please reply to this email and bring a signed permission slip with you to school on Friday.”
MS/US Quakerism teacher Dan Zemaitis noted that he was in support of the decision to suspend classes because attending the game would provide a chance for students to “rebuild community, especially because so much was lost due to COVID.”
Students like Jewell Jacobs ’24 are also in support of the decision: “Even if people were coming to [class], it would be hard for them to focus because this is really significant in our school’s history. No one in the Upper School has seen this happen before in their time being here,” she stated.
MFS will provide teacher supervision for students who choose not to attend the game and choose to remain on campus. Students also have the option to “be dismissed via a phone call or email message to the Upper School Office” after 9:15 a.m.
Buses are expected to return to campus around 2:30 p.m., after which students will be able to depart from campus, or they may remain on campus until 3:10 p.m. under school-provided supervision.
