The doors to the Davern Lobby swing open and closed as students shuffle into school each morning. Just as one student enters the school, the door closes behind them and another student pulls the same door open again, making his or her way in. These students don’t enter the doors to their respective grades, but judging by the way students intentionally isolate themselves along grade levels, one could very well assume so. SPA prides itself as an inclusive and welcoming community, but in order for that to actually hold true, the grade-level dissociation needs to stop.
While it is rare to see an upperclassman so much as smile to a freshman passing by in the hallway, it is common to hear that same person inquire about “the freshman drama.” The problem is that a grade level hierarchy dominates our social interactions and makes an uncomfortable environment for everybody.

Unspoken rules limiting who one can talk to, admire, or even compliment based on grade level are followed precisely. Dozens of unique individuals in ninth grade are dismissed as “just freshmen.”

However, this condescending attitude reaches well beyond just that one grade level, affecting more than those who are targeted by it. Many a possible friendship or exhilarating conversation has been inhibited by fear of breaking the rules that nobody formally established or enforces.
The idea that the more years one has spent in high school, the more knowledgeable that person is about it is justifiable. However, when this concept expands to the egocentric idea that the older a group of people is, the better they are than everyone in grades below them, there’s a serious problem.

At one point, every senior had been a freshman, and every junior had been a sophomore. There is no guarantee that one person’s experiences and actions when he or she was in that lower grade level were perfect, and even if they were, that absolutely does not mean that he or she stands above anyone else. If anything, it means that they might be in a better position to help others out and look out for them.
It’s easy to get caught up in one’s own head when following the patterns of isolation by grade level, but it’s important to stop and take a reality check when things get out of hand.

The student body needs to operate as one unit—one school community. Ultimately, outsiders don’t judge us by grade level or age group; they judge the collective institution. And no matter how tight knit each individual grade is, if individual students don’t come together as a school, they lay the foundation for a permanent culture of being an unwelcoming community.

Grade level pride is great. Class Color Day had higher participation during Homecoming than any other, and class retreats create lifelong memories. Pride builds indispensable bonds and strengthens the community. It’s one step towards a unified school.

Unfortunately, the only circumstance in which students reach out to those in other grades is when grade level mixing is organized, such as in student groups, mentee-mentor meetings. Once a student steps outside of the bounds of an organized activity, grade levels are on lockdown. There’s no way to interact with students from other grades.

The only step left after grade level community is school wide community, the interweaving of friendships between all four grade levels of the Upper School. Don’t leave the job half done.

So ask classmates how their day is going. Help the disoriented new student get to the lunchroom, maybe even walk them there. Give a pointer to the underclassman struggling with a math problem. All of these actions take barely any effort but their effect is long lasting. These little things are what will take SPA one step forward and enhance our communication within and our image from without. In the end, every student enters the school from the same main door. Might as well hold it open for the next person.