The future of Community Learning Experiences (CLEs) is up in the air.
CLEs replaced “Days of” in the 2025-26 school year. In previous years, the high school has had four “Days of”: Day of Change, Day of Racial Reform and Solidarity, Day of Dialogue and Day of Disability. The programming of these days often included different lessons and speakers. The groups that hosted these days did not need to fill out applications, and these days were mandatory for all students. CLEs are also programming days, though these days followed an opt-in/opt-out model, where teachers got to choose whether their classes participated or not. Additionally, CLEs used an application-based process to determine which groups would get “Days of” programming.
This year was intended to be a transition year, during which a plan for “Days of” programming in future years would be devised. The long-term CLE planning committee has spent the year working on this, received student and faculty feedback and will soon present it to the Senior Cabinet (the Head of School, Assistant Head of School and head deans).
Long-term CLE planning
The committee met regularly throughout the year to discuss the future of CLEs and includes Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator Jen Martin, Dean Summer Williams and Career and Tech Education Curriculum Coordinator Britt Stevens. The committee searched for a solution that addressed issues such as how groups apply and get selected for CLEs, what defines a CLE and whether or not they should be mandatory.
During this transition year, to be selected to run a CLE, different groups of students and faculty working together submitted applications. The CLEs that happened followed an opt-in/opt-out format where teachers could choose whether or not their classes would attend.
According to Martin, the committee’s original goal was to come up with a long-term plan for how CLEs would run. They defined a CLE as an event that exceeds 100 people and/or one that teachers are required to bring their classes to. They decided to come up with four options for CLEs.
Martin said that, although student participation in CLEs is essential, it was important for them to receive faculty feedback first, as the burden of CLEs falls most heavily on them.
“We need to know first what adults are willing to do, not do, get their feedback, and then be like, ‘Okay, here are the options as we see them,’” Martin said. “Which can feel like kids are being left out of the process, which I totally understand. And then on the flip side, we’re the ones who are responsible for the ‘Days of’ and I want to make sure that when I have kids in the room, I understand what the [clear] parameters [and plans of the day] are.”
After receiving and responding to faculty feedback, the committee turned to students. The committee presented the four options at a Student Council meeting on May 6. The committee will use the feedback from students when they present to the Senior Cabinet, who will ultimately make the final decision.
The options for future CLEs
Thirty-five students attended the student council meeting and were presented with an infographic describing what qualifies as a CLE and the four options for what CLEs might look like in the future. Option A requires staff to submit proposals for school-wide programming, Option B requires students and staff to submit proposals together for programming, Option C requires teachers to design small programming for a few classes to attend and Option D requires administration to develop these days.
Almost unanimously, students at the meeting favored Options A and B and thought that Options C and D strayed too far from what “Days of” and CLEs had been.
Option A, or the “Full Application Process,” requires interested staff to submit a proposal for school-wide programming. Two attendees of the meeting, juniors Ellie Coffey-O’Reilly and Olivia Beaulieu, who lead Sexual Harassment/Response Response and Protection (SHARP), thought that this was the best option. They said they liked Option A because it provides more staff support and clear guidelines for all.
Coffey-O’Reilly and Beaulieu were frustrated with how their day was handled this year. For the past few years, SHARP has hosted a school-wide Day of Change. Last year, this programming included three blocks of lessons and activities. According to Coffey-O’Reilly and Beaulieu, this year, their panel took place in the Black Box in the freshman building instead of the auditorium, limiting the audience they reached.
“The reason clubs have organizers and have teachers organizing them is so that we can get administrator support and we’re reaching that community [of adults] and not just [the] student community. That’s one thing I’m thinking about, and that’s why I think A is the best option,” Coffey-O’Reilly said.
Junior and publications manager of Student Identity Protection Alliance (SIPA) Dee Sosa said that she worried about Option A requiring too much adult involvement. SIPA is a student-run organization that advocates for students’ rights in various respects. For example, they were the group responsible for organizing an event focused on race this year. She said applications should be open to students to fill out for their own groups.
“[SIPA] would have to reach out and try and find a teacher who’s willing to do that. SIPA has been in kind of the spotlight and there are teachers who don’t like us because of things we’ve posted, things we’ve said and things we’ve tried to change,” Sosa said.
Sosa said that one suggestion she had for Option A is that student organizations without existing teacher support be connected with interested teachers after submitting a proposal.
“[This idea] is kind of what we did this year: we came up with the idea [for the CLE] and then we found teachers who would back us up. The teachers looked over our speakers, speeches and stuff like that, and they really helped out with the technical stuff. And I think that would be really important for students, again, who don’t have a teacher that’s already backing them,” Sosa said.
Option B is “Establish Process with Enhanced Clarity.” This is the most similar to this year’s format but includes the addition of an intake form, a sample CLE model and a decision flowchart to define what qualifies.
Option C is “Small-Scale Experiences, Decentralized by Design.” This would eliminate school-wide large-scale events and replace them with smaller experiences for a defined group of participants that wouldn’t last longer than three blocks.
Sosa said that she was very concerned that, given the size constraints that come with option C, the content and learning on these days would reach fewer students.
“[Option C] would defeat the purpose because the whole point of the CLEs is that they are ‘community learning experiences,’ and I feel like it wouldn’t be community learning if only a certain amount of students can go,” Sosa said.
Option D is “School Leaders Design and Lead all CLEs.” This option entails adults taking full control over these learning experiences and how they are run.
Sosa said that she was concerned that placing full control over CLE days in the hands of adults would diminish students’ voices.
“I know that there would be a lot of censorship, and I feel like students wouldn’t be able to express what they feel like they need within the school. I feel like it would be really focused on what teachers and admin think that we need, which is very different from what the students need,” Sosa said.
Moving forward
Martin said it was difficult to create these options.
“This is quite complicated because there are a lot of different people who have different perspectives. And they’re all competing, and one thing I do know is that Brookline High School students, teachers and administrators, all really value these experiences,” Martin said.
According to Martin, the committee tried to look ahead and preserve these days while having a clear and predictable process for students, faculty and families.
“The reason why I think the long-term planning is important is because, while I had hoped we’d be totally finished by the end of this year, I’m not sure we will be,” Martin said. “I’d rather spend more time getting it right than trying to force it to be ready for next year because I would love for it to be a real solution to all of these different things that have popped up over the years.”
