To the dismay of many Groton students, the loss of the 2020 spring sports season was yet another effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. To compensate for this loss, the school created the 4-2 program: a system where students participate in one afternoon activity four times per week, including traditional fall sports, and another activity two times per week, including traditional spring and winter sports. A plethora of new additions has been made to the list of afternoon activities, including fishing, bird watching, lawn games, and frisbee golf, so that all students have something to do amidst these unprecedented circumstances. But how do Groton students feel about the new system for afternoon activities? A survey of 135 respondents gave us some answers.

In general, feedback on the 4-2 program was overwhelmingly positive. According to the survey, 83.2% are participating in two activities that they are interested in. A further 83.7% gave a satisfaction rating at or above 7/10 when asked their thoughts on the new activity offerings, and only 1.6% gave a rating below 5. When asked whether the COVID-19 guidelines are significantly worsening their experience with afternoon activities, a slim majority (52.7%) of respondents said no. In these unprecedented and difficult times, this indicates some level of success on the part of Groton’s athletics department. In addition to all of this, 80.3% of respondents feel that the 4-2 program is a better option than having only one afternoon activity. With regard to maintaining a sense of enthusiasm for afternoon activities, 60.0% of respondents feel that collectively, the Groton community is doing well with this.  

We asked some students to give concrete feedback regarding the 4-2 program, either in person or via a school-wide survey. “The 4-2 program is a good balance between regaining and making up days lost from last spring and also getting the opportunity for a fall sports season,” said Patty Eldredge ‘22. 

Though the trend is mostly positive, there are still noteworthy criticisms and negative responses to the 4-2 program. For instance, “I understand why we’re doing it, but I think it makes everyone more tired. It’s more physically strenuous because it is a lot of moving around and we have to use different muscle groups for each sport we’re doing,” says Naomi Boateng ‘22. 

There are clearly varying perspectives on the 4-2 program, but the overarching trend is quite positive. The critical responses, however, provide valuable insight that will help to improve the program as a whole. Overall, the 4-2 program can be considered a success, and the first half of the term bodes well for its success in the second half.