After 17 years in which all high school gatherings were held in the Forum, this year’s accreditation process resulted in a mandate requiring that GDS move gatherings into an alternative space.
The gym is now a temporary space for high school gatherings, such as assemblies and Monday meetings. Advisors and Assistant Principal for School Life Quinn Killy, who sent out an all-school email on Jan. 1, announced the move to students.
Killy said that accreditors believed that the Forum was not conducive to GDS’ goal to “have a community experience where everyone can be involved.” He added that he hopes the gym will not be a permanent solution.
According to history teacher Topher Dunne, the Forum was first built and used in the fall of 2006. He added in email correspondence that the Forum was “meant to be a space where the whole school could gather.”
Dunne told the Bit that before the construction of the Forum, assemblies were held in the old student lounge, which was comparable in size to the Internet Cafe.
Junior Sofia Moen said that while accreditors may have the ability to issue mandates, she did not think it was a necessary change.
According to Killy, all independent schools must go through an accreditation process every ten years to maintain their “title as an established or highly regarded school.” Parts of school life, such as fire drills and assemblies, are graded on a pass/fail basis. However, according to Killy, schools can receive a passing grade with stipulations outlined by accreditors.
Killy told the Bit that the GDS high school was given a passing grade on all-school gatherings with the stipulation of finding a new place to accommodate students and staff.
Seniors Thomas Ogada and Oliver Alfonso-Frank said they felt sentimental about the Forum and thought that the change would shift GDS’ culture of all-school gatherings.
Ogada said that the shift felt strange to him because he was used to having assemblies in the Forum. He added that having assemblies in the gym “feels more separated.”
Killy said that administrators would not try to make the gym have the same feeling as the Forum. “Maybe replicating isn’t the goal, maybe it’s making it better,” he said.
Alfonso-Frank said that the Forum was a suitable setting for school gatherings because students could choose how engaged they were with the gathering. “People who had to do a lot of homework could still listen but be more outside in the Internet Cafe,” he said.
Sophomore Zoe Maas said the Forum is a nice community space for assemblies. “I know it was tight for some people, but it was very cozy and had a very GDS feeling,” she said.
“If we have to be in the gym next year, we’ll continue over the summer to try to tweak and look at other ways to make it as good a place as possible for all high school gatherings,” Killy said.
“I feel like what’s different about the gym than in the Forum is how everyone is facing forward,” junior Lauren Berman said. “I feel like the space doesn’t feel as connected or as much of a community.”
“It’s just kind of annoying because it’s a lot more uncomfortable, especially for the Monday meetings,” Moen said. “If you win the raffle, it will be really embarrassing to walk down.”
Freshman Kai Park did not think the change was necessary. “It looked like it was functioning pretty well in the Forum,” he said. “It’s hard to get to the gym since you have to go down the staircase, and it’s not immediately accessible.”
Killy, in an all-school email, told students that before assemblies, classes would be dismissed by grade over the PA system to “ease the flow of traffic” into the gym. The email states that students will sit with their grades in bleachers in the gym.
Both Park and sophomore Tatum Mach said that they have noticed fewer people attending assemblies now that they are in the gym.
“I think that because assemblies are in the gym and everyone is transitioning to that space, it’s easier to slip away,” Mach said.
“I think everyone understands that they need a space,” Berman said. “But I think it’s going to be an adjustment having everything in the gym.”