If there’s one part of Windward that’s integral to its welcoming community, it’s the clubs.

Ranging from Film Club to Pickleball Club, there are 52 clubs for students to choose from, all of which are student led.

(However, all clubs need to have at least one faculty advisor.)

If students aren’t able to find a club that suits their interests, they are able to start their own club at any point in their Windward career.

Kat Dubrow (‘25), who joined Windward this year, started the Queer Lens Film Club. She explains that it was really easy for her to create this club even as a first year student. She credits this to Windward’s desire to have “ a lot of student-run activities that they make the kids start themselves.”

Dubrow is also a part of the Art Club which she feels like has given her the opportunity to meet new students with similar interests.

The Club Fair: An Annual Event

A club fair is held every year in the fall, so students across all grade levels are able to see all of the different clubs available to them. During this club fair, students often sign up for many more clubs than they plan on attending.

Students are typically a part of 2-3 clubs per year, but during the club fair many students may sign up for as many as twice that amount of clubs.

Members of Windward’s Black Student Union at the 2023-24 Club Fair. Photo courtesy of Windward School.

Presidents of each club are able to choose what grades their clubs are open for. Typically, clubs are set up for students grades 7-12 or 9-12. Many presidents choose to have their club open for all grade levels to encourage as many people as possible to sign up for their club.

Presidents are also able to choose which day their club meets, and how many times a month their club will meet. Windward’s 2023-24 schedule has identified two ideal days for clubs to meet: Tuesday and Friday during community.

The reason that students wind up attending far fewer clubs than they sign up for is because many of the clubs have overlapping meeting times, so students have to choose which club they want to attend the most on certain days.

Club meetings can happen once a week, twice a month, or as little as once a month. The amount of meetings a club has per month is often dependent on how much free time the presidents have, and how often they believe the club needs to meet to accomplish their goals.

The Creative Writing Club, for example, meets once a month and is open for students grade 7-12. The club meets relatively infrequently as the presidents are very quickly and they don’t need more meetings to accomplish their goals for the club.

Windward’s diverse range of clubs ensures that every student will be able to find a club that they feel comfortable in. Furthermore, these clubs give students the opportunity to explore their different interests without having to commit to a year long class about the topic—a useful and welcome perk.