Elite School Will Offer a Day Off for Students Distressed by Election

One of New York City’s elite private schools told families on Thursday that “students who feel too emotionally distressed” the day after Election Day will be excused from classes, and that psychologists will be available during the week to provide counseling.In a section of an email to members of the school’s community headed “Election Day support,” Stacey Bobo, principal of the upper school at the institution, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, said that it “acknowledges that this may be a high-stakes and emotional time for our community.”“No matter the election outcome,” she wrote, the school “will create space to provide students with the support they may need.”No homework will be assigned on Election Day, the email said, and no student assessments will take place on Wednesday.Excused absences will be allowed on Wednesday or whatever day the election results are announced for students who feel unable to “fully engage in classes.” Gwen Rocco, a spokeswoman for the school, declined to comment on the email.Fieldston’s upper school, in Riverdale, a leafy section of the Bronx, includes grades nine through 12.

The school also has two elementary schools, one of which is in Manhattan, and a middle school on the Riverdale campus.About 1,700 students attend the schools, and tuition for all grades is $65,540 a year.The school, which was founded in the late 19th century on principles of social justice, was divided by infighting over pro-Palestinian student activism in the spring, leading to Joe Algrant’s resignation as head of the school in August.

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