The first class period begins at 8:30 a.m. Classes are 45 minutes long, with five-minute breaks between periods. Between second and third periods, depending on the day of the week, students will attend either All School meetings, Chapel (a nondenominational gathering in which students listen to talks by faculty and students), class, or advisory group meetings.
Depending on what time their last morning class ends, students may eat lunch from 12:10 to 12:55 p.m. or 12:55 to 1:40 p.m. Lunch is served on weekdays from 11:25 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; on Sundays, brunch is served from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
After lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, classes resume until 3:20 p.m. Classes end for the day at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesdays and 11:55 a.m. on Saturdays, so students who play a sport can participate in games.
When classes end on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, all students participate in an organized team activity, whether it be a varsity sport, theatre, or Fairfield Farm Ecosystems and Adventure Team (FFEAT). Click here to see a complete list of co-curricular offerings.
Hotchkiss offers more than 60 clubs and student-run organizations — from fashion blogs and literary magazines to app design and social justice groups. Most meetings are held on weekday evenings in classrooms and common areas in Main Building.
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 8 to 10 p.m., all preps and lower mids attend mandatory study hall, held in their dorm rooms or in designated common areas. With permission from a faculty member, preps and lower mids may study elsewhere on campus. On Wednesdays, study hall is held from 7 to 9 p.m., with an hour of free time from 9 until 10 p.m. curfew. Upper mids and seniors have no formally scheduled evening study hall.
From Sunday night through Friday night, all students have to check in with their dorm head at 10 p.m. Seniors and upper mids who are studying elsewhere on campus must be back in their dorms by 10 p.m. On Saturday nights, all students must check in by 11 p.m.
Every night except Saturday, preps and lower mids must turn out their lights out by 11 p.m.; on Saturdays, lights-out is at midnight. All upperclass students must be quiet by 11 p.m., and all students must turn off their electronic devices.
