What’s on the minds of Bromfield students? The Press asks them to weigh in on a variety of topics.

This month: It’s October again, the month of colored leaves and crisp air. And along with pumpkins and rosy cheeks, autumn usually indicates the start of typical high school activities: football games, homecoming dances, and the like. But not at Bromfield. Harvard students instead experience soccer games and, later, the Snowball dance. The question is, do students like Bromfield’s individualistic traditions and the community of a small school, or would they prefer the more typical activities of a larger school? Does its small size make Bromfield unique and unified, or does it take away from a typical high school experience?

Tate Edmonds, grade 7
“I think they cancel each other out, because we have some things that other schools have, but other schools have things that we don’t have, so I think in some ways Bromfield is more unique, but in other ways it makes it more boring than other schools … but I like it the way it is [in Bromfield] rather than [the way it is] in any other school.”

Liz Pongratz, grade 11
“The school I came from didn’t have homecoming either, so I’ve never experienced that, but I think it’s good that [Bromfield] is a small school and that everyone is so close. I don’t think it really matters. I mean activities [like football games] are fun if you have a good team and you have rallies, but I don’t really think it matters. Maybe just because it’s so small, [Bromfield] doesn’t have all of the same classes as my old school, so maybe just that [takes away from it].”

Katie Keefe, grade 11
“For the most part it’s fine; I mean class diversity would be cool, but it’s nice. We’re like a community kind of thing.”

Amanda Dexter, grade 11
“It’s unified, which makes it so much better than a bigger school. Like in Acton-Boxborough, there are just so many kids; there’s like one thousand kinds in a grade, so you’d get lost among the other students. I think it’s better this way. I like that it’s small.”

Mariah Katz, grade 12
“I think it’s worse because I feel like we are missing out on an important aspect of high school life … I know kids from other schools who go to these big events and have a lot of fun and I think that it actually brings the school together more. The soccer games are fun, but they aren’t that big, like a super bowl might be. Now, some of the things that I’m looking for in college is the stuff I didn’t have in high school.”

Paul Malloy, grade 8
“I believe that the activities in our school are what make the Bromfield experience special. These activities make our school unique compared to others in the area. At the same time, they are traditions to the students and the school, which make them an important and valued part of our school life.”