Time after time, the administration has pushed new changes on students without notice, creating disappointment, frustration and protest. Currently, the newest wave of anger has risen out of the movement of student lockers into classrooms or the athletic hallway, places that are no longer in the center of the school and create much inconvenience. Students talk constantly about how their thoughts will not be taken into account. But they need to be taken into account because students should have input on the spaces they’re in everyday. While changes are often made by the school to make it seem more desirable for prospective students, the needs and wants of the current students should be prioritized. Therefore, students need to be included in discussions about significant changes before they happen with the administration so that their opinions can be voiced and taken into consideration.

Imagine a few years ago when students walked down the senior hallway, colorful pennants adorned each locker and displayed where the current seniors would spend the next four years of their lives. A few seniors sat on the benches in the hallway, working in that small nook. Those students saw themselves in a few years studying in those same spots. They imagined younger students seeing the flags on each locker, excited for the time when they would be a senior.

Now that student will never experience the dream they hoped of. Their locker is inside a classroom, only accessible when there is not a class in there. Or, their locker is located next to the girl’s locker room, too far away to be convenient. They feel like they’ve lost a part of their senior year that students in previous years were given. No senior hallway, no pennants adorning those lockers for students in both the upper and middle school to see.

While this may seem unrealistic, many students currently feel this frustration. While the Schilling center opens up so many new opportunities for STEM advancement, the seemingly trivial displacement of lockers inconveniencies so many students. All this just to make the school look more like a college campus and less like a high school (although the irony is that now students often leave their backpacks/belongings around the school, which in some ways would make the school look less professional). This article is not simply arguing that the lockers need to be put back in their original place, although from listening to students they would likely welcome that action; instead, this is to urge students to reach out to the administration and voice their opinions, making sure they get fully heard and acted on.

This isn’t the first time the school has surprised students with a new change and left them in the dark about the new ways spaces will be used. For example, the senior lounge, once a place for seniors to socialize, is now completely non-existent with the seniors having no space that is uniquely their own. Club leaders that have chosen to have bulletin boards in the hallways to put information have been repeatedly informed that they are required to put information up (something that was not enforced in previous years), especially if open houses will be happening in the school soon.

With USC specifically designed to represent the student body’s voice, the administration does not seem to be listening to them. Therefore, students must find other ways to gain the attention of those in power. The administration should be meeting with student groups and USC to get actual feedback if the student bodies input really matters to them. Furthermore, the administration should embrace the fact that this is a school and should function that way, including keeping student lockers in hallways. With the expansion of the school, simply walking from the English portable classrooms to a Schilling classroom takes time, and then if a student has to go to an out-of-the-way locker also, they will most likely be late to a class given the short grace period. Students should email the administration to voice concerns and meet with USC representatives to discuss ways to make their opinions heard. Lastly, rather than complaining about the lack of consideration that the administration has for its students, students should speak up about their opinions and, hopefully, future classes at SPA will feel like their desires matter more to the school.