Scituate High School seniors have the benefit of their own cafeteria. The “senior cafe” is where seniors love to play competitive ping-pong, eat and socialize with friends, or work on their homework. Although access to this space is considered a senior privilege, SHS administrators can lock the door when the posted rules are not followed. If the senior cafe is deemed messy, students receive a warning that it needs to be cleaned. If students fail to heed the warning, the cafe is shut down for the next few days as a punishment. Recently, the senior cafeteria was closed until further notice. Consequently, many SHS seniors have been disappointed.
SHS senior Bronson Bossey utilizes the senior cafe during his study period. He said the punishment “is frustrating but reasonable.” Bossey understands the reason behind the closing, noting, “Janitors shouldn’t have to clean up our trash.” He hopes the cafe will not have to be shut down in the future and students will clean up after themselves for the benefit of others.
The SHS administration determines when to close the cafe. Assistant Principal Lisa Kirk shared her concerns, remarking that she’s been finding “broken ping-pong paddles” left around the senior cafe. According to Kirk, seniors have not taken accountability, which impacts the ability to keep the cafe open for all. Kirk acknowledged that seniors were unhappy when the cafe was closed, and some shared “their concerns about seeing the locked door.”
SHS principal Marc Loranger has also noticed similar issues involving the senior cafe. He described how the process starts by noticing the cafe is messy, which results in the students receiving a warning. After the warning, students are told, “If it happens again, it will shut down.” Loranger said he often notices that when the senior cafe is opened back up after it has been closed, students take very good care of it and keep it clean.
Moving forward with the school year, the administration will continue to close the senior cafe if it is messy. Ideally, administrators want seniors to enjoy this privilege respectfully.