Unseen before by Kinkaid students, the senior corner is a recent addition to the student center in the Temporary Upper School building.
The senior corner is a portion of the Commons in the Temporary Upper School, which has been sectioned off to create a space exclusively for senior students.
Following the announcement of the new hangout, some seniors were ecstatic to have their own exclusive space.
Senior Chloe Childress used the corner the first few weeks of school.
“I have really enjoyed having a dedicated space for the seniors and an area where we can all socialize and do homework,” Childress said.
Many freshmen also hang out in the Student Center due to freshmen lockers being located in the same space.
“Just simply by playing ping pong and spending time in the Student Center, I have been able to meet so many new people from different grades,” freshman Lindsay Lucas said.
While all students are welcome in the Student Center, the senior corner does have its critics.
“I am somewhat upset about the windows being inaccessible to other grades,” freshman Cade Chambers said.
Some comments and concerns have reached Mr. Josh Ramey, the dean of students and assistant head of the Upper School.
“The complaints I received were about freshmen throwing shoes and other things over the walls of the senior corner while seniors were in there,” Mr. Ramey said.
Seniors have felt jokes like this have caused tension.
“I feel as this has caused tension between seniors and other grades, specifically freshmen, as many of us will feel annoyed or disrespected by them when we tell them to quiet down or respect the seniors as we did for the grades above us,” Childress said.
Because the Upper School is being housed in a temporary building, no specific area was thought to be devoted to the seniors when the building first opened for use last year.
Feedback about the lack of a senior lounge came from seniors in the Class of 2024 and contributed to the formation of the new senior corner.
“We wanted to make sure all options were considered to allow a dedicated space for seniors. Ms. Spencer was very instrumental in making this possible,” Director of Student Life Mrs. Erica Baker said. She worked on ideas alongside the Upper School Head Ms. Alex Spencer.
The new Student Center greatly differs in the amount of space as compared to its former counterpart that was larger and demolished in the old Upper School building. After dealing with both Student Centers, Mr. Ramey said he believes the new center is nicer and cleaner.
“Current students seem to be better behaved and have more respect for the temporary Student Center compared to graduated students who had access to the old center,” Mr. Ramey said, recalling that in the old building, students had broken windows and stains could be seen on the floor because students were allowed to eat in the center.
Although the old student center was a dedicated space for all students “by tradition, the center became a space only for seniors,” Mrs. Baker said.
