As the new school year kicks off, many aspects of students’ daily routine remain the same. The daily schedule has not changed, school policies have stayed consistent, and Wednesday interventions have returned for another year. However, if a returning student were to walk into the cafeteria, they may notice something different. 

Just recently, the cafeteria underwent a change with the addition of new furniture. School administration made the decision to do away with the long, bench-chair tables, a decision that Principal Imbusch credits to making the cafeteria environment more comfortable. 

“The old cafeteria tables served a purpose, but they made the cafeteria feel very institutionalized,” said Imbusch. 

In turn, Imbusch hopes that moving to smaller tables with individual chairs will lead to a more connected student body. 

“It is a little more intimate in the sense that you can’t seat 25 kids at a table, and the noise level has come down dramatically because you are having a more intimate conversation,” said Imbusch. 

The new cafeteria aims at helping students with adjusting to the school year by giving them a sense of belonging. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, current high school students have had to experience unprecedented difficulties and have lost over a year of the normal social life of high school. By providing a space for students to converse and branch out, Imbusch thinks that the tensions that come with the rigorous academics of high school could lessen. 

“Getting through high school is not easy, but if students have other things that help along the way, they tend to want to be at school,”said Imbusch. 

 Imbusch cites that students tend to do better when they feel socially and emotionally well, and he hopes that a more friendly space can contribute to students’ well-being.

Although the new cafeteria does a good job of bringing groups of students together, it does not hold as many students as previous years. When the weather is nice outside, students have the option to go out into the courtyard and eat, but they are permitted from going anywhere else. In the previous two years amidst the pandemic, students were allowed to eat in classrooms, in the cafeteria, as well as anywhere outside on school grounds. However, the administration has put a stop to that since the pandemic’s effects have slowed dramatically. 

“During the pandemic, we were trying to get out of the cafeteria, put people outside, and reduce the number of people inside the school. But there comes a balance between keeping people safe from COVID and keeping people safe security-wise,” said Imbusch. 

This mindset has brought a more cautious approach from school administration, which explains why several policies regarding students privileges during the school day have been adjusted.