Monday meetings will return to the Forum this Monday, after a year and eleven months of high school gatherings occurring in the high school gym.
The move comes after a change to exits near the Forum to allow for higher occupancy. Over the summer, construction teams cleared a hallway through the theater shop that provides direct access to a preexisting exit to Davenport Street, which is connected to the Forum through the teacher’s lounge. The change allows the Forum to accommodate 609 people for high school gatherings. D.C. zoning laws determine the maximum occupancy of a room based on the number of available exits.
A stipulation of GDS’ October 2023 accreditation by the Association of Independent Maryland and D.C. Schools (AIMS) required the school to move gatherings to the gym in January of 2024. Assistant Principal for School Life Quinn Killy said the accreditors’ mandate was based on fire code, evacuation, sound quality and seating capacity.
Killy said he did not know if all high school gatherings would eventually take place in the Forum. “I would be surprised if we have any assemblies in there before January,” he said. Killy added that the Student Staff Council (SSC) plans to gather feedback from the community and make adjustments accordingly before deciding whether to hold assemblies in the Forum.
Killy said the door from the senior corner into the faculty lounge was reversed to open into the lounge. According to Killy, the door was a fire hazard when it opened into the Forum. He said that while the necessary construction took place over the summer, the school needed a fire marshal’s approval before moving the Monday meetings.
Killy said the only changes to the Forum are adding a new sound system and projector and constructing the hallway to the fire exit. “In terms of what the Forum can hold comfortably and how many people can sit in there, none of that’s changed,” Killy said.
Students will have to move their personal belongings out of the Forum before Monday meetings. “We can’t fit all of the student body and all of their backpacks in the Forum,” Killy said.
Killy said that while SSC did not receive direct feedback from students and faculty about moving high school gatherings to the Forum, the council thought the general community consensus was that the Forum was preferable to the gym.
SSC President Grace Khuzami said the council wanted to move Monday meetings back to the Forum to bring a stronger sense of community to high school gatherings. “It definitely is a big part of GDS,” Khuzami said about the Forum. “It really brings people together, and I think that’s what assemblies have really been missing.”
Senior Julian Lucas said he thinks students will be less likely to skip Monday meetings in the Forum because students will be more engaged. “It’s more fun for the raffle to see the person coming down and everything,” he said about Monday meetings in the Forum. “I think it will limit people skipping.”
Junior representative Alicia Kim said the council chose to hold Monday meetings in the Forum because Monday meetings are less formal than assemblies. “If we bring in a speaker, people in the Forum are usually lying on each other, and it makes GDS look not super serious,” Kim said. “For Monday meetings, that’s focused on the community already, and being in the Forum brings us all together.”
Sophomore Rebecca Hirsh said she disliked that students will have to move their personal belongings to make space for the entire student body to fit in the Forum. “If you have sports, you have to pack so many backpacks,” Hirsh said. “It’s such a pain to have to move it somewhere else.”
History Department Chair James Elish, who has worked at GDS since 2022, said he preferred the Forum to the gym because he thought the Forum was representative of GDS’ culture. “The Forum is a more intimate space,” Elish said. “It’s a space where people are more comfortable, but it’s also a space that is central to the heartbeat of the school and the school’s identity.”
Freshman Ali Hlinko said she wanted Monday meetings to take place in the Forum because she thought it would be more comfortable than the gym. “I have really bad back problems, so bending over on those bleachers can be really annoying,” Hlinko said. “I think that I’ll be able to enjoy assemblies more,” she said about gatherings in the Forum.
“I think it’s better to stay in the gym,” freshman Miles Moghtaderi said. “I remember from the Day of Deliberation, a lot of people were lying down and sleeping in the Forum, so I don’t think it’s the best.” During the Day of Deliberation on Monday, Oct. 27, students attended presentations by speakers in the Forum.
Senior Natasha Rubinson said she was looking forward to attending Monday meetings in the Forum. “I’m really excited, because that’s how it was freshman and sophomore year for me,” Rubinson said. “The gym just feels like a cold, sterile place. It’s not as fun and lively.”
“My hope is that we can approach the Forum in a newer and better way,” Khuzami said. “It really depends on how the students use it.”