Tips and Tricks for New Students: The Scroll editorial board offers some advice

Welcome to Deerfield! Every year, approximately one-third of the student body is new. There are many traditions we feel you should discover on your own, but here’s some information you might find helpful as school opens.

Dances:

Dances usually occur every other week. Annual dances, ranging from themed to formal, are eagerly anticipated. The major fall dances are:

Denunzio Disco: Held the Saturday after the first week of classes, the theme is disco. Wear your most outrageous, bright, and sparkly ’70s attire.

Sadie Hawkins: Proctors traditionally set up their proctees with upperclassmen mystery dates. Sadie’s takes place near Halloween, so wear a costume!

Buildings:

You might hear people referring to buildings by different names than are printed on the campus map or your schedule. Here are some common abbreviations:

MSB: The Main School Building, a.k.a. the Academy Building, houses the deans’ offices, registration, the finance office, history classes, college advising, and more! Make sure to check out the 3rd floor.

The Mem: The Memorial Building, which is home to art classes and all-school meeting, is a popular gathering place.

Meals:

Sit-down meals are Mon., Tues., and Fri. lunch and Sun., Tues., and Thurs. dinner. Thursdays are sit-down lunches with your advisor group, and all other meals are walk-through. Check the Dining Hall Website (click here) for menus.

Remember to wear class dress for sit-down meals, don’t start eating until everyone has been served, and listen carefully to announcements at the end of the meal.

Free Periods:

Most students have one or two free periods during the day. You can use the time to run errands (pick up a package from shipping and receiving, laundry from E&R, a weekend slip, etc.).

If you have an afternoon game, you could also pick up your uniform.

Besides your room or an academic building lobby, there are many places to go during free periods, including:

Library: Completing a subject of homework during the day can make your night less stressful. There are three floors of carrels.

Koch Cafe: Grab something to eat or drink between classes. This is also a common place to get work done and/or socialize.

Mem Lobby: While this often-noisy space isn’t always conducive to studying, it can be a great place to relax.

Accountability Points:

These are commonly known as APs, not to be confused with Advanced Placement classes.

Each term you can receive up to eleven APs. You get four APs for missing class, three APs for missing a co-curricular activity, one AP for missing a sit-down meal, and so on. APs get cleared at the end of every term, and you start fresh with zero APs the next term. If you exceed the limit of eleven, you will get restrictions on weekend nights.

Rumor has it that students who get no APs in their entire Deerfield careers are treated to a private dinner with Dr. Curtis…

DAinfo:

You can use this to see pictures of everyone at Deerfield. Don’t think you are a creep for looking someone up; we all use it! Matching people’s names and faces using DAinfo can help you learn your classmates’ and teachers’ names much faster. You can also see whose birthday it is.