Frequently+Asked+Questions

Debate meets after school during the scheduled class time. On very rare occasions, meetings will be canceled or let out early and you will receive notice of cancellation. During this class time, your child receives important announcements, engages in practice rounds, and generally prepares for tournaments. If your child needs to be absent for any reason, as with any class, please contact the coaches as soon as possible. In addition to this class, we require that your child attend various tournaments throughout the year, which can be found on our tournament calendar, as well as help with the Invitational tournament that we host in September.
 * What are the expectations for being on the debate team?**

We try to miss as little class as possible. Most frequently, we will miss Fridays or Mondays, but usually not both. The day missed depends on the schedule of the tournament; some start on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday while some start on Saturday and end on Monday.
 * How much school time should I expect my child to miss?**

When debaters anticipate an absence, we ask that they notify their teachers at least one week in advance. We find that teachers are generally reasonable about the number of absences we have because of the dedication and effort that our debaters show in the classroom. Part of maintaining that relationship is being up front about known absences.
 * What should my child do about absences?**

While at tournaments, we generally do not have extra time. Depending on when the tournament begins, we arrive either the night or the morning before the tournament begins. We usually eat breakfast and lunch at the tournament, but go out for dinner. Some tournaments charge for food at the school whereas others provide free food to the students.
 * What should I expect for my child on a debate trip in terms of food?**

Travel arrangements will be listed in the tournament calendar for each tournament. In addition, your child will receive information about that month's tournaments at the all team meeting at the beginning of the month
 * How do I find out about travel arrangements?**

At tournaments, our expectation is that students are in their hotel rooms by 10:00 PM or, if the rounds go until after 10:00 or we are eating, the students need to be back in their rooms as soon as we return to the hotel. We think that getting enough sleep is not only important to being a good competitor, but also is important for them to stay healthy. Please encourage your children to go to sleep as soon as they return to their rooms, and not over-exert themselves by staying up late.
 * What is life like on a debate trip?**

Who goes on trips is determined by the coaching staff based on past performance (work out of rounds, practice, past tournament experience) and availability of slots. Some tournaments allow us to take more competitors than others and some tournaments are more appropriate for particular students because of experience.
 * How do we determine who goes on each trip?**

As coaches, we pride ourselves on a national reputation for professional and courteous behavior, as well as competitive success. We ask that your children adhere to our team dress code of professional dress. Due to the prestige of certain tournaments, your child may be requested to wear a suit. We expect that students will adhere to the school code of conduct at all times during the tournament experience. One of the unique educational values of debate is the large team experience of working for one's peers. As a result, we expect that all students will be active participants in the tournament process after they are done debating. We feel strongly that the success of one team is only a product of this larger team w
 * What is expected of my child on a debate trip?**