Under the floorboards of the English hallway, there exists a convivial space of refuge for the ninth and tenth grades, the freshman hallway and the sophomore bubble.
The freshman hallway is a rite of passage for all underclassmen as almost all underclassmen for the past fifty years have experienced spending their first few years of upper school in these hallways. The freshman hallway is the oldest of the two, with it being used as the hallway for freshmen for around 50 years. The sophomore bubble was originally a plumbing room that was cleared to make it be the hallway for sophomores 15 to 20 years ago. Mr. Smith, the director of building and grounds says that over time they have periodically made improvements and cosmetic changes to the freshman hallways.
The most recent and noticeable improvement was the addition of vinyl flooring that was placed in the hallway during covid, primarily for sanitary purposes. Overall, most improvements are more cosmetic and minor because the pipes and other electrical wiring cannot be moved. However, one of the largest complaints is the lack of seating in the hallways. This is an issue because there is no seating for everyone due to the size of the space as well as the seating available is constantly covered with coats and sport bags which are placed onto these seats instead of the lockers. This causes many students to instead spend time in the library causing frustration from upperclassmen who are studying because of the noise levels.
One way this could possibly be improved is by adding flex seating such as bean bags or small couches or chairs to the space to make the place be more of a convivial space.This is one of the factors that makes the library appealing because of its wide variety of seating. Additionally, with Mr. Green and Ms. Coble’s rooms being moved to the new performing art centers, it brings a new opportunity for these spaces. Though nothing is confirmed nor completely speculated, because these large spaces will no longer be used by these teachers, they can possibly be transformed into maybe new spaces for students to spend time in. However, these rooms may just become additional classrooms, but they also could become areas like the senior hallway, similar in size, or in general a new space for underclassmen to spend time with one another.
For the time being, the best possible solution would be adding additional seating, which would make the space a more likely place to spend time, and would be the most effective way to solve this problem with the space given.
