Community Meeting

Weekly Community Meeting is an important activity in the schedule. Occurring each Thursday, this is a period of time when staff and students can meet and openly discuss concerns or issues regarding the community and the school. The meeting is clerked by two students, who help manage discussion of key issues. Community members may contribute to the agenda by jotting down topics on a sheet posted in advance. There are times when students give voice to serious concerns, resulting in animated debate. This time also is used to hear committee reports and receive policy clarification. Sometimes guests are invited to speak during the meeting. Many meetings include the telling of "Scatterbrains", humorous events from the past week involving someone from the community. The meeting ends with reading of the "Quaker Oats Notes." These notes are written anonymously and express appreciation for another's selfless act or a kindness done.

Meeting for Worship

Meeting for Worship is one of the ways that Quakers seek individual spiritual guidance and share spiritual insights with each other. The whole community gathers (usually in the historic Meetinghouse on the south side of campus) in silence for 45 minutes. It is in this silence that each person has the opportunity to work through his or her own individual quest for spirituality. Some people meditate; others may ponder their relationship with God or the world. Some simply use the time to reflect on their week or contemplate a personal issue. Anyone who feels led, whether by God or by strong personal feeling, to say something aloud may do so out of this silence. The Meeting concludes with shaking the hands of those seated nearby, and with a feeling of warmth and strengthening of community bonds through this shared experience in silence.

Student Meeting

One of the best things about being a student at Scattergood is that you have the ability to make a difference. At Student Meeting every Tuesday, the students have a chance to meet by themselves to discuss any issues that have come up in the student body or any changes they would like to see made. The only thing that you could possibly compare this to is a Student Council Meeting. The main difference is that every member of our student body is involved. During Student Meeting, the students can talk about anything they would like, from teachers and work loads to policy changes. If it is something they would like to see changed, many times a committee will be formed to hammer out details before it gets presented to the rest of the community at Community Meeting, which happens later in the week. Sometimes Student Meeting just gives the students an opportunity to sit down together and share experiences and opinions. While these discussions often happen outside of Student Meeting as well, this is the one opportunity provided to get ALL the students together at once to talk and share.

Staff Meeting

Staff Meeting is held on Tuesday afternoons during the same time Student Meeting occurs. Usual business items include Student Updates by the Academic Coordinator, the Dean of Students and the Health Coordinator. To reflect on recent activities, organize and discuss upcoming events we move into an item called Look Back and Look Ahead. Announcements end the business half of the agenda. The second part of the meeting is usually devoted to a specific discussion topic where faculty is invited to share their thoughts on the subject. The meeting closes with a moment of silence.

Dorm Meetings

Dorm Meetings occur in each dorm every Sunday night. These meetings give students and dorm staff a chance to talk about any issues that may have come up in the dorm the previous week. Some reoccurring issues that both dorms have discussed are: respecting Quiet Time rules, doing dishes, the appropriate ways to borrow something, and respecting other people and their needs. These are common issues that come up in most any communal living space and, at Scattergood, we choose to have a weekly time to openly talk about these problems. Announcements and Lost and Found are two other important times in the meetings. Announcements time allows students and staff to share good things that happened in the dorm or give reminders to each other about any issues that have come up in previous weeks. Each meeting ends with a time for people to share any funny things that happened in the dorm.

Advisor/Advisee Lunches

Each Tuesday advisors and their advisees eat lunch together. Instead of going to the usual assigned tables in the dining room, we join hands around the outside edge of the dining room for a silent blessing and announcements. Then each advisor/advisee group chooses their own place to eat (in the dining room, in other rooms in the main, in staff apartments, or outside). This time is used for advisors and advisees to catch up on the weeks events, problem solve, or plan an outing for later in the week.