This year, at The Village School, there has been a mandatory class (Mindful Stress Management) implemented upon ONLY full IB Diploma students. Attached below are the reasons why the IB Diploma class of 2016 believe the implementation of this stress management class is unfair. Our aim is to make this class optional, that way students are able to choose the way their time is managed at school, and the way they personally choose to pursue stress management.

• Students at IB Diploma level signed up for courses based on the information that was previously given to them by the school about required classes. The additional requirement (stress relief class) is not a class that is part of the IB Diploma, nor was its implementation discussed with students or their parents. A mandatory class such as this, despite good intention, is unfair to implement as students were not aware of it when they signed up for courses.
• The class reduces the amount of time students had been previously planning to use for studying for mock exams, final exams, finishing WiT essays, finishing Extended Essays, preparing for IOC’s, finishing various class IA’s, ect. By taking away the student’s ability to study at school during a study hall (especially for students participating in afterschool sports), it may infringe on the extent to which students can study after school, and thus lead to excess stress and an unplanned drastic change in time management.
• As an IB Diploma student, our workload is already excessive. By requiring us to complete assignments in this class, infringement on study time for classes the are REQUIRED for the IB Diploma is done. While we understand the assignments are meant to help us reduce stress, their mandatory nature is counterproductive.
• The Village School is advertised as a school that puts the concerns of their students first. However, by implementing a mandatory class (not necessary to pass the IB Diploma) WITHOUT bringing such a topic up with students beforehand, completely contradicts the moral foundations on which The Village School so proudly advertises. As a publicized measure to help the students, it is questionable in nature that students were not asked what would help them beforehand.
• There are many students that are taking seven classes, seven IB Diploma classes, and do not have a lunch period. When they decided to take the extra IB class in the beginning of their Junior year, they were expecting a free period during second semester of Senior year. It is unfair to subject students to the new class requirement as it places students in an incredibly stressful situation in respect to time management.
• Essentially, full IB Diploma students have the heaviest work-load of the school, there is nothing “stress-relieving” about having a mandatory class unrelated to the IB Diploma sprung on them.
• This class takes away time that IB Diploma students treasure. For some, it is a break from the unrelenting work-load that Full IB Classes endow students with, and for others it is a chance to catch up on the work they were unable to finish at home.
• Placing this mandatory class upon ONLY IB DIPLOMA STUDENTS, the students with the heaviest work load, is unfair and does not characterize our schools embodiment of equality.
• While the intentions of this class may be good, and while we understand that stress-management is essential for biological, cognitive, and social health, implementing a mandatory class upon the most overworked population of the school, without their consent, is a counterproductive way of achieving the “stress-management” this class is about.
• When asked about the implementation of this class, the graduates of 2015 that were IB Diploma students stated that it have been counterproductive and would have greatly infringed on their study time.

Please sign this petition if you believe in what the IB Diploma Class of 2016 stands for.