Locker bay changes try to eliminate class segregation

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Anna Henning

North Wing locker bay

Anna Henning

When locker combinations were assigned on registration day this year, some students of all grade levels found their lockers in the North Wing this year. Fossil Ridge High School has ended the segregation of the freshman lockers, with the purpose of creating a more unified school. This decision has been a part of many changes that have been happening for years to equalize the freshmen with the rest of the school.

When Kinard Middle School first opened, it was not in its own building. Seventh through ninth graders used the North Wing before their separate building was finished, and it was also used in a similar way when the ninth graders were introduced into high school. In 2009, junior and senior high changed into middle and high school. In order to make the freshmen transition as smooth as possible with a strong support system, Freshmen Academy was born. This program gave the freshmen separated classrooms, lockers, specific teachers and counselors, and lunch.  

As Fossil’s number of students grew, it became harder to maintain the academy program while the school as a whole needed more staff and classrooms. Eventually, classes that could be taken by both freshmen and upperclassmen were in one room, with one teacher. Desegregation of the freshmen began, and little by little elements of Freshmen Academy were changed.

In the fall of 2016, the freshman lunch was eliminated to allow more students to get involved in clubs that met during lunch, as well as get help from teachers who offer tutoring. In the fall of 2017, freshmen were assigned counselors by last name to allow every student to have one counselor for their entire high school career, rather than having a separate one in ninth grade. After all these changes, only one thing remained – the freshman locker bay.

Students have worried about the separation and unhealthy competition between the classes, and in an attempt to fix this problem, locker bays were planned to be integrated two years ago. However, with the principal switch around the time same time as planning for the upcoming school year, administration decided to put that idea on hold. With a new leadership team in the fall of 2017, staff members decided to focus on other things going on in Fossil and bring the idea back in 2018. Amanda Jones, a dean, believes, “there was really no reason not to switch it this year. This is one school, and there was no justification to segregate classes.” Since this change, Mrs. Jones believes the school is calmer during passing periods. She has noticed more freshmen getting to class and following rules, while upperclassmen are being role models. “I’m okay with the change because I can ask the upperclassmen some questions about where classes are and how to get to the cafeteria,” says freshman Caroline Sears.

Some students don’t think it is fair to have upperclassmen upstairs again since they don’t have as many classes in the North Wing, yet others believe it is a good idea. Ben Stevens, a sophomore, has a locker in the North Wing for the second year in a row. He said, “I don’t really care about the change. I think it’s a good tool to spread people throughout the school rather than having them all in one place.”