A Hallway or hardware store?
October 4, 2019
Upon entering the first floor A hallway of DGS, the scent of plywood and view of overhanging metal bars are indistinguishable from the hardware section of Home Depot. Except, this is a hallway full of teenagers instead of an aisle with tools and appliances. Because of this, the temporary A hallway at DGS has gained much attention as the school year has begun.
The replacement walkway is made out of wood, with two windows and makeshift entrances to the new deans’ and counselors’ offices. This space is smaller in width than the traditional hallways throughout the school. Junior Julia Grippo shares that this makes traveling through it more difficult.
“I think it’s really inconvenient how tiny and crammed it is,” Grippo said.
Freshman Marty Blader agrees that moving through the new A hallway is difficult.
“There’s not a lot of space to walk through and it’s loud and crowded. I try to avoid it most of the time, but one period I have to go through it,” Blader said.
The new wood hallway has also changed the layout of many offices. The administrative offices are now only accessible through the wooden hallway. According to social worker Tracey Salvatore, a big inconvenience is the confusion that has been caused by it.
“People used to come meet with me in D107, and for them to now come through the wooden walkway, it’s a little bit confusing,” Salvatore said.
There are many complaints to be made about the temporary pine box hallway, but the future of the A hallway seems to be promising. By the end of construction, the wooden hallway will be completely removed and the offices will connect directly to the student learning commons. Until then, the school will continue using the wooden hallway to travel across the first floor.
The inside of the walkway has been filled with boards designed and painted by school sports teams and clubs. The outside of the hallway also received new enhancements. Principal Ed Schwartz explains how the hallway has been decorated by students to properly fit DGS’s environment.
“A blue background has been painted on [the hallway], the art classes and art club painted trees on. We’re going to have painted across the top ‘Leave your mark on DGS’ and during homecoming week people could go out and put their handprints out there as the leaves on the trees,” Schwartz said.
Although inconvenient, the nuisances of the A hallway are said to be necessary in order to reach the completion of the school wide construction. According to Salvatore, the benefits outweigh the negatives.
“I think it’s a very nice space, I think the students will benefit from it, especially once the [learning] commons is attached. Overall, it is really positive and I like the vision [for the school],” Salvatore said.
