Peddie students opened their inboxes to find Mr. Quinn announcing Headmaster’s Holiday through a video posted as breaking news on The Peddie News website on Feb. 10.

Headmaster’s Holiday is an unannounced day off for students, usually occurring in the latter portion of winter term. Shrouded in mystery, the official day of the holiday is often unknown, until the day before it occurs. However, once the day is announced, students rejoice in celebration. Movie shuttles are provided the eve of the holiday, along with late-night pizza and check-in at 11 p.m.. Seniors often take advantage of the day by completing (or beginning) their senior thesis.

“When we decide the date for Headmaster’s Holiday, we try to find a day where there are no important assessments or sporting events scheduled. Preferably, it’s a day before the senior thesis is due as well,” Quinn said. He added that the day could possibly be scheduled after the due date of the thesis, since the tradition of Headmaster’s Holiday began before the senior thesis even existed.

Even most teachers do not know about the day until it is announced campus-wide. A select group of faculty, including Assistant Head for Student Life Melanie Clements, are the only ones who are notified. However, many students have come up with other ways to figure out when the day will be. The most popular method is to call the movie theater, Carmike Cinemas, in East Windsor. It is a well-known fact that Peddie reserves some seats the night of the holiday, in order to accommodate the mass of students who suddenly show up. When asked about the method, Clements responded that it would not work this year, since the theater was instructed to not divulge information about large reservations that night.

However mysterious Headmaster’s Holiday may be, it remains well-loved and highly anticipated by many. Emma Licciardello’17 said, “Headmasters Holiday is such a nice surprise during a stressful time at Peddie.”