After four years of high school, it would be nice to have a place to relax, socialize, and hang out with members of your fellow senior grade–right?
Unfortunately, this is not the reality for seniors at DHS. Instead, seniors have the smallest section in the cafeteria of all grade levels and a library that reaches maximum capacity before 7:25 am.
The problem of lack of socializing space for seniors has been growing in discussion this year. According to senior Claire Fullington, “it doesn’t make sense to me that seniors have the smallest section in the cafeteria. I think it drives people out and encourages seniors to leave school for lunch.”
Other seniors enjoy sitting in the library during frees or lunch period, but even that has become a struggle to find seating. Senior Charlotte Palen noted that, “it is hit or miss to find a place to sit in the library at any time of the day. I usually find mobs of underclassmen congregating in the library when I try to find a place to study.”
So what is the solution? In other high schools around the country, they find their solution in a Senior Lounge. A senior lounge is a dedicated space for only seniors to hang out, study, or take a break between classes with peers of their own grade. This often includes having tables where students can study or eat, entertainment options like games, and comfortable furniture for students to relax in.
For schools where senior lounges are successful, they present the space as somewhat of a ‘reward’ for students to look towards and motivate them as they move through high school. At Derby High School in Connecitcut, their Senior Lounge was a donation from previous graduating classes and, according to its student newspaper, is “something that every senior looks forward to using upon reaching their 12th grade year.”
This concept functions well in larger K-12 schools, as well. At The Haverford School in Pennsylvania, they state that their senior lounge “also alleviates Sixth Formers’ (seniors) high-stress levels induced by the double pressures of school work and college application” and “serve as a relief for Sixth Formers to maintain their work-life balance in the midst of much chaos, anxiety, and sleep deprivation.”
Would this be an option for DHS? According to Senior Class Officer Ava Gupta, there has been some discussion about potentially exploring this idea in the future. “It would definitely involve finding an adequate space that isn’t currently in use, something that still needs to be figured out,” Gupta said. Fullington suggested that the back podcast rooms in the library, which are often not used, would be the perfect space to make a lounge.
Though this idea is far from being confirmed, there have been rumblings of approval across the Class of 2025 about the prospect of a lounge. Senior Rachele Romano says, “I think the lounge would be a great idea, not necessarily for this year but for the upcoming senior classes.” Although a senior lounge may not make the cut for the class of 2025, it could possibly be a new addition for the senior classes to come.
