Jones students were shocked Wednesday morning walking down State Street when they saw nothing but a construction site filled with trucks and cranes wrapping up their deconstruction of the entire school.
It is apparent that trucks arrived around 6 p.m. on Tuesday night, just as security was closing down the building, and worked efficiently to get nearly everything gone by morning. However, administrators insist that classes will continue.
“This is simply an effort to keep our school operating as cleanly as possible. Students took advantage of the building and used parts of it to misbehave. We had issues with graffiti in the bathrooms, paper towels thrown everywhere, trash in the school. We just decided that if we took it all away, it would go away,” said Head Thinker Mitch Levan.
Jones students found the changes a step too far, however, disagreeing with the administrator’s approach to behavior management.
“This is really ridiculous and feels too punitive. Why do we have to sit outside in this giant pit of sand and foundation because a few kids were vandalizing the bathroom stalls? It feels like too much,” said Percy Smith ‘27.
Administrators remain confident that this new approach will limit negative student conduct, despite loud concerns.
“It’s really important to curb student misbehavior at its source. And where does all misbehavior start? The school,” said Levan.
“Administrators also recognize the need to improve student discipline at home, not just in the school setting.
“Trust me, we’re working on the home. It’s a lot harder to get permits when you don’t own the property,” said Levan.
Students are hopeful these changes won’t be permanent, and the building will come back if they raise their voice enough.
We’re planning a walkout for next week. It’s a bit confusing with logistics now, because I am not sure where we will walk out of, but we will walk out,” said Annie Plagalabaga ‘28.
Students and administrators are not the only source of friction, however. Teachers have been frustrated with the worsening conditions now that they have been forced outdoors.
“AP Computer Science is a required class,” said CompSci teacher Lenna Marsden. “Do you realize how hard it is to teach computer science in the rain and snow? Did anyone think about that? I get that behavior had been getting worse, but now we’re literally soaking wet all the time, and our computers are all broken. It’s just created a million more problems.”
Administrators, however, are pleased with the progress that has already been made by the new changes.
“We’ve cut behavior problems in half. Graffiti entirely. We’re having a little attendance problem because there’s not much of a location to attend,” said Levan. “We’ve gotta figure that one out.”
