Personal Wellness Days (PWDs) have long served as an important support system for boarding students, offering time to rest, reset, and manage the intense academic and social demands of school life. For the past few years, all Upper School boarding students were allotted three PWDs per year, with a restriction of using two maximum per trimester.
A large majority of seniors use all of their PWDs, particularly during the first two trimesters as they focus on college applications and standardized testing like the SAT and ACT. Most juniors also use all of theirs, often around AP exam season. In contrast, underclassmen, especially ninth graders, often use one or two or none at all, according to Ms. Donna Corrigan, Dean of Residential Life.
As a result, the number of PWDs for ninth and tenth grade was reduced to two this school year. The administrators justify this change by saying how most ninth and tenth graders didn’t use their PWDs effectively.
However, the reduction defeats the original purpose of PWDs. The issue is not how many PWDs students are given, but how well students are taught to understand and use them. Rather than reducing the number, our school should do more to encourage and educate students about the purpose and value of PWDs. For the 2026-27 school year, this number should be returned to three for the ninth and tenth graders.
PWDs were initially created to support students’ mental and physical wellbeing, while also helping to balance the experience between boarding and day students. Parents of day students can permit their child to stay home for a day for recovery, and PWDs are the equivalent for boarding students. “Personal Wellness Days are all about self care,” said Ms. Corrigan. “Kids have a choice in PWDs and that’s always a good thing.”
At their core, PWDs are meant to be preventative and restorative, not something students feel anxious about using. In reality, the reduction may unintentionally increase it instead of easing stress. Some fear that taking a PWD will put them behind academically or signal a lack of resilience, even when they are mentally unwell. New ninth grade boarders often report feeling uncertain about when or whether to use their only two PWDs, while tenth graders who experienced the previous three-day system describe the loss of flexibility. Current tenth-grade boarding student Liesl Ma ’28 described how having three PWDs helped her plan ahead. “Back in ninth grade, I had all my PWDs planned out, taking one per trimester. They really helped me study for assessments, and benefited my grades,” she said. “Now that there’s only two, I’m scared to use one because I don’t know what’s coming later, even when I’m stressed.”
Rather than cutting the number of PWDs, our school should be more intentional about reminding students that PWDs are a privilege designed specifically to allow rest and recovery. Clear messaging from advisors, dorm directors, and faculty throughout the year could help normalize taking PWDs when needed, not saving them out of uncertainty and ending up not using any. Teaching students how to use PWDs proactively before stress becomes overwhelming is a better solution than simply reducing the number.
According to Ms.Tessa Stevens, Johnston A Dorm House Director and Middle School English Faculty, the boarding life faculty remain open to revisiting the policy based on student feedback. Her comments further support the idea that guidance and communication are essential, especially for underclassmen who are still adjusting.
For students who rely on PWDs, the reduction from three to two can be especially disruptive. This uncertainty goes against the original intention of PWDs, which is to reduce stress, not create it. “Having three felt like a safety net,” said Ella Fu ’28, a boarding student. “Now that there’s a new schedule and more academic workload, it feels like there’s more pressure to choose the perfect time taking my PWDs.”
PWDs are a valuable resource for boarding students. However, reducing the number without strengthening education around their use risks undermining their purpose. I believe underclassmen should be given back their third PWD, but just as importantly, the school should do more to encourage and inform students about why PWDs exist and when to use them. When students feel supported and informed, PWDs can truly serve as what they were intended to be: a tool for balance, not another source of pressure.
Image Source: Medium