Prefect Council announced that the school will be hosting a one-day sophomore retreat to Disneyland on Feb. 2 in an email sent to students Wednesday.

Retreats, an annual tradition at the Middle School, have often included grade-level trips to El Capitan Canyon, Catalina Island and Colorado River. Students have also gone on trips to theme parks, with one to Disneyland culminating ninth-graders’ experiences. With this in mind, Prefect Council has worked with the school administration to bring similar events to the Upper School and maximize student bonding, according to their recent email.

Sophomore Prefect Dillon Ring ’24 said he is excited to see students bond following their return to campus after a year of virtual learning.

“The Sophomore Prefects eagerly pushed for a sophomore retreat because we wanted to maximize bonding time for our class, especially for [those] who joined our community during the pandemic,” Ring said. “Our class missed out on ninth-grade retreat [due to the pandemic], so we wanted to allow for another opportunity for students to socialize. [Student bonding] and community are both huge themes Prefect Council plans to work with this year, so we are excited to see [this new event] pan out.”

Charlotte Hogan ’24 said she is grateful for Prefect Council’s decision to host the retreat, and she hopes the experience will be able to reconnect students following a virtual school year.

“I am excited to spend time with my peers, especially following a virtual school year,” Hogan said. “Having joined the school community as a new ninth-grader, I regretted having to cancel last year’s retreat, and that makes this sophomore retreat even more valuable. I am glad Prefect Council has integrated new methods to help students, both new and returning, bond, and I hope this new retreat will be able to fully encompass the experiences we missed out on last year due to the pandemic.”

Ava Seib ’24 said the retreat will be an opportunity for sophomores to step away from school and academics and instead, focus on bonding with their peers.

“Stepping away from a year of little to no in-person contact, I, as well as many of my friends, struggled to transition to the Upper School and deal with the new pressures imposed upon sophomores,” Seib said. “I feel that the sophomore retreat [is a chance] for us to let go of any stress and truly have fun. It is [at] the perfect location, too. Disneyland is famous for bringing family together, and I [view] our sophomore class as a family in and of itself. While it is true that we are no longer [our seventh-grade selves], I am still excited for the upcoming retreat.”