Connecticut Avenue (Connecticut) is very popular with students and staff alike at WIS, and there is a chance that the eighth grade’s rules concerning Connecticut might become more flexible in the near future, according to MS Dean of students Eric Beck.
“I think the eighth grade would really like to see some privileges, and we’re looking at that; it’s a possibility,” Beck said, “Maybe during the second half of eighth grade, they can go down to Connecticut and then come back up; we’ll see how it goes.”
From the Tregaron campus, a seven-minute walk straight down Macomb Street will bring you to Connecticut. The busy street is lined with various restaurants, stores, and even a movie theater. Once there, it is easy to take advantage of the shops and activities, and then go home using the metro station nearby.
Of course, WIS currently has rules set up regarding students’ access to Connecticut that both middle and upper school students are expected to follow. One of the two main policies WIS has set up is that, in the Middle School, it is forbidden to go to Connecticut after school and then return to campus, unless it is for a special occasion (such as the winter and spring concerts) and students have parental permission. The second is that off-campus lunch is not allowed in any grade, with the exception of junior and senior years.
Claire Svhira, an eighth grader at WIS, agrees with Mr. Beck.
When asked about her opinion of the rules the school has in place about Connecticut Avenue at the moment, she explained that they all made sense, but that some of them could be more lenient. “If enough people said the same things and made similar remarks about the rules, then maybe they would change them,” Svhira said.
However, it seems that “the rules that WIS has set up about Connecticut Avenue are at most times unclear, especially for middle school students,” said Zoe Abel, a sophomore who has been at WIS for four years.
Svhira has similar thoughts, stating that she does not know what the rules are exactly. “We’ve never really talked about them in detail,” she explains, “I feel like there should be an assembly where we go over all the rules about Connecticut.”
Abel thinks that “the rule that you’re not allowed to come back up on campus after going to Connecticut Avenue in Middle School is strange.” She says she understands that Middle Schoolers must go to aftercare by 3:45, but insists that “coming back onto campus shouldn’t be a problem.”
The reason many of these regulations are created is to protect students.
“When a child walks onto campus, their parents are trusting us with their kid’s security. We have to know where they are and that they’re safe at all time,” Beck elaborated.
If a student were to walk to Connecticut Ave. during school hours and something happened to them, WIS would be responsible.
“I understand why the rules are there,” Svhira said. However, she suggests that “at least after school, if you tell Ms. Lluch, you should be allowed to leave to Connecticut and then come back, and not just on special occasions.”
Beck seems to be aware of these opinions, and says that there are definitely plans being made to create these “eighth grade privileges” in the near future, though he is not sure what exactly they would entail.
Beck warned that these would indeed be privileges, meaning that “students would lose them if they don’t handle it well.”
8th grade is the last grade of Middle School, so many of the things students learn during that year are meant to help them increase their sense of responsibility and organization in the face of freshman year.
Abel explains that privileges for the 8th grade would be great preparation for high school since “in high school a greater amount of freedom is allowed for students on Connecticut Avenue, which reflects the greater amount of trust being placed in these students as they are older and more mature.”
By Ester Luna
