The Dining and Learning Center has been a place filled with life, from students eating and studying to faculty and staff working. Since the start of in-person education last year, the Dining and Learning Center has transformed into an area that is different than it was before. 

The main difference is the modified furniture being added in order to accommodate CDC requirements for social distancing. Other changes were that freshmen and sophomores had to wait five minutes after the bell rang so that lunch lines would not be long.

 For the past school year, there has been a plexiglass wall that runs along the interior perimeter of the DLC and plastic tables scattered around the area that seat only two people. With this reduction in seating, there were changes that allowed last year’s juniors to eat off campus, so the DLC would not breach the CDC’s guidelines.

The original furniture of 54 tables and four high-top tables was restored to the DLC  over the weekend leading up to Monday Nov. 8. With the original furniture back, the DLC seats 500. 

Students are excited. 

Junior Cooper Buck is pleased to be able to sit comfortably with all his friends again.

“It felt weird to be sitting at plastic tables at first because it was just a new look and feel… now that the furniture is back to normal, it feels like an actual cafeteria again,” Buck said. 

The new setup in the DLC also has an effect on faculty and staff, as most faculty members ate in their rooms during the 2020-21 school year.

 “Everyone is feeling more comfortable… I think we will be seeing faculty in the Dining and Learning Center again as well,”  said Ms. Anjaly Thakkar, Upper School math teacher.