Investigating ARISTA’s New Policies and Perspectives

ARISTA is a New York City public high school honors society defined by four pillars: character, leadership, scholarship, and service. Stuyvesant’s ARISTA is centered around giving back to the community; it is the backbone of the school’s academic support system as well as a volunteer organization, ranging from park cleanups in Brooklyn to food pantries in Queens. Members of ARISTA must keep up with its in-person event and credit hour requirements to maintain their position.

ARISTA has made many changes to its requirements and policies in the 2025-2026 school year. While some changes are minor, other overhauls have made a big splash, including the Big Hero Program and new assigned tutoring. The ARISTA executive council and members have varying opinions on these developments.

One catalyst to the changes this year was a strained relationship between ARISTA and the guidance counselors in the past. Senior and Vice President of Operations Veronika Gulko addressed this problem, highlighting organizational and communication issues that prevented ARISTA from fulfilling their obligations to the school. “So, for example, if [the guidance office] report[ed] somebody to get tutored by ARISTA members, ARISTA would not be able to do that,” Gulko explained. “But this year, I think we’ve done a spectacular job with that.”  This school year, ARISTA has dedicated itself to rebuilding its connection with guidance counselors, particularly ensuring that the freshman class has support while adjusting to Stuyvesant’s rigorous courses. This commitment has meant accepting as many tutoring requests as possible, as well as providing elevated resources and events for freshmen.

Gulko also highlighted another new strategy to boost ARISTA’s efficacy—an email system in which members are offered extra credit if they accept tutoring requests that have not yet been addressed. “We ask every ARISTA member to tell us their best tutoring subject and their availability. And then, if we see a new tutoring request come up, we will send an email to people who are best suited to tutor in that subject, be like, ‘hey, we’re going to give you multiplier credits if you do this’ and [they] pick it up by the end of the day. So guidance counselors have been loving us for that,” Gulko added. Emailing members about specific tutoring opportunities can save them the trouble of looking through the website for a request that suits their academic strengths. 

This policy, as well as increasing tutoring hour requirements, has greatly improved ARISTA and supported the Stuyvesant student body. “Before the policy was implemented, the website had dozens and dozens of ‘high-priority’ tutoring requests, some of which had been there for over three weeks,” sophomore and Operations member Krish Kalantry explained. These initiatives were a necessary change, as they pushed members to accept tutoring requests that were previously going unanswered. As a result, ARISTA members have continued to reach the required credits while students get the help they need.

 Another new policy for ARISTA members is the Big Hero Program, which creates groups of both new and returning members, respectively nicknamed Minimaxes and Baymaxes. These cross-grade groups allow Baymaxes to help Minimaxes adjust to ARISTA while building a stronger community amongst members. “We do want to have a little bit more participation within ARISTA rather than having it just be [credits] on your screen. We do want there to be some connection. And even if it is forced, I think it’s better than nothing,” Gulko said. While there have been some logistical issues within groups, Gulko is hopeful they will help in the long run with Minimaxes’ adjustment to the honors society.

Senior and Vice President of Web Development Rohan Sen sees ARISTA’s growth as also taking place in a technological environment. Sen described the process as “optimization work,” or a way to achieve continuous growth within the club. For example, Sen has made the ARISTA website mobile-friendly for easier access and implemented a filtering feature where older tutor requests get highlighted for priority. But the work does not stop there. Sen has other ideas for events, including adding a cap on the number of volunteers. “From a technical perspective, on the user’s end [these changes] can be very helpful,” remarked Sen. 

Additionally, members who have been in ARISTA for two school years noticed the increased efficiency in communication thanks to the Slack app. Junior and Events Committee member Eric Lam noted, “I can easily contact the people at my event through Slack, and it definitely really helped.” Communication is essential for volunteering events, providing a boost in organization for members. 

Communication has improved outside of the Events department, too. “[I had] people direct messaging [me] on Slack, asking, ‘Hey, how do I give this person this number of hours?’” Sen recalled. ARISTA members can now easily take advantage of the simple text platform to reach out to the council board with only a few taps.

However, not all changes have been equally successful; this year, ARISTA accepted many more new members compared with previous years, which has since caused problems when signing up for events. “I’ve been signing up for as many events as possible. It’s difficult to get these credits sometimes since people sign up for events extremely fast,” sophomore and ARISTA member Sara Bhuiyan said. The influx of new members has made it difficult for members to sign up for events before they reach maximum capacity, in turn making it hard to achieve the required amount of event credits. 

Sophomore and ARISTA member Olivia Lau shared a similar perspective, adding that the number of events available is insufficient for the number of members who need to attend them. “The limited number of events and spots available for them makes it difficult to attend and get event credits. For this, it helped to plan ahead and check the website frequently so that I could sign up for events early,” Lau described. Such challenges work against some of ARISTA’s other changes aimed at making a more efficient system.

The Events Committee acknowledged this challenge. Because the Events Committee manages which members get to volunteer, it also carries the burden of desperate members who get waitlisted for events. “[Members] should have known that it’s a big commitment in the first place, but if we don’t offer them the opportunity to go to events, then they’re kind of justified for their [irritation]” junior and Events Committee member Khosiyat Kabilova observed. The event credits are one of the most burdensome ones, as many members emphasize the limited events available. 

ARISTA’s executives have since worked to solve this problem, most notably by decreasing event requirements by three credits, increasing the number of events available every month, and partnering with organizations that ARISTA members are already involved with. “I think every senior I’ve talked to has been very grateful for the decrease in hours” and  for the broader range of ways they can get credits. “[Members] can say, ‘Hey, I volunteer at my church. Can I please get hours for it?’ People are a lot more grateful for that, and I’m so happy that we’re able to do that now. We have significantly more events up on the schedule,” Gulko highlighted. This influx of new policies has lessened the stress on members to sign up quickly for every event. In addition, as many ARISTA members volunteer outside of ARISTA, they are now sometimes eligible to use those hours as ARISTA credits. Combined, these policies help remove the burden of credits for members who already have busy schedules.

Overall, ARISTA members have gained much from being a part of ARISTA despite the high expectations and intense demands. “The workload is rigorous, but it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to help so many different communities, ranging from the Stuy community to NYC as a whole,” Bhuiyan said. Members might not have the opportunity to make an impact outside of ARISTA, so being a part of a community that makes a positive impact on others is very empowering. 

Kabilova added, “Because ARISTA is a big commitment, there [are] always responsibilities that you have. Time management is even more reinforced.” Members not only use their skills, but are also provided opportunities to develop their horizons and passions through ARISTA.

Looking to the future, ARISTA has many more events and achievements they plan to accomplish, alongside everything they have already done. “[ARISTA is] in the midst of planning other sorts of events, like the can drive for the winter. We’re also having a movie night event in two weeks where members can come in to watch movies and make winter crafts, so be sure to look out for that,” Sen said. ARISTA is not done making changes, and they continue to look to the future for how they can improve.

Clearly, ARISTA continues to be a community place for notable students to strive to be their best and spontaneously brainstorm new creative ideas to benefit the community. Who knows? Maybe a brand new service year, starting with a brand new policy, could just be waiting at ARISTA’s doorstep.