The Day Student Experience

Prefects are juniors and seniors who serve as peer leaders for day students.

The main goal of the Prefects is to foster community and build relationships with each member of their neighborhood. Each neighborhood has two Prefects who work together with the Prefect advisors to plan events, address issues that arise within their neighborhood, and ensure each member of their neighborhood feels a sense of belonging.

Prefects are advocates for the students in their groups, providing support and connecting them with other campus resources as needed, and promoting day student perspectives in the wider community. As student leaders on the campus at large, Prefects also work to build a broader sense of community by organizing various school-wide events throughout the year.

A neighborhood is a group of 14-20 student leaders who meet regularly throughout the course of the year.

They discuss important subjects such as DEI-related topics, current events, immediate needs of the community, etc. -- and they also just hang out and have fun.

There are 12 residential neighborhoods and 7 day neighborhoods, each led by two Proctors for residential groups or two Prefects for day students, and one member of the Student Diversity Leadership Group (SDLG). Day neighborhoods engage in discussions and activities every other week on Thursday mornings. Fall orientation activities are conducted in neighborhoods, and "EmmaBowl" (a community-wide friendly competitive event made of many activities and games) sees neighborhoods competing against each other to win!

Daily class schedules begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:35 p.m., with music rehearsals prior and athletic practices after.

Emma Willard uses a block schedule, so the exact times of classes, breaks, and lunch periods shift from day to day.

Kellas Dining Hall is open to all students—day or boarding—for any meal. See the dining page for more details.

Day students are always welcome to stay overnight with friends, participate in evening and weekend events, and host boarding friends for a home-cooked meal or sleepover.

There are two categories of overnight stays: stays in the day student guest room which can be on weekdays or weekends, and sleepovers with boarding students which are Friday and Saturday night only.