No movement on reinstating bridge furniture, study halls being considered

Rachel Olefson ’25, Web Managing Editor|March 27, 2023

As a result of the removal of the bridge furniture on the second floor earlier this year, Staples’ library has become more crowded, yielding noise complaints and leaving both students and faculty to wonder when (or if) the furniture will be brought back. Graphic by Rachel Olefson ’25.

A  recent proposal for reinstating the bridge furniture and possibly implementing study hall spaces was posed at a Staples Collaborative Team meeting on March 3, however, no advancements have been made in bringing it back any time soon.

Earlier in the year, the furniture was removed from the bridge, which led to overcrowding and noise in the hallways and library. At the meeting, it was requested that the furniture be reinstated. Staples science teacher Jacob Tourigny, who was present at the meeting, believes that there are many  students who could be assisted by the introduction of study halls.. 

“I do think that there is a group of students that could significantly benefit from having a monitored study hall throughout the day,” Tourigny said. “That being said, students should still be allowed to use that time to meet with their teachers for extra support.”

Additionally, some teachers feel as though study halls could help incoming freshmen better adjust to the transition from a completely structured day in middle school to a more unstructured time in high school.

“[Study halls] would help tremendously for the underclassmen,” special education teacher Heidi Howden said. “I feel students can ‘earn’ a free [period] instead of a study hall when they are juniors and seniors. I don’t see any drawbacks if this is implemented for the incoming freshmen.”

Regardless of the possible uses and benefits of these new study halls, some students still feel as though bringing back the bridge furniture is the preferred way to reduce the crowding and excess noise levels caused by an increase in the number of students spending their free periods in the library instead of on the bridge.

“The hallways often get very crowded during free periods and lunch waves,” Karoline Smokler ’25 said. “I think it would be beneficial to have more seating areas for students to reduce large crowds.”

However, even though there have been various complaints about the lack of space during free periods since the furniture had been removed, plans have still not been made to move forward with bringing it back. 

“We just haven’t gotten to set up a meeting about the furniture,” Principal Stafford W. Thomas Jr. said. “As soon as we get to do that, we can work on bringing it back.”