Pingree students of all grades agree that there are unspoken rules throughout the school, separating shared spaces by grades. When interviewed, students expressed how divided the commons and other spaces can feel to new and older members of the community. Freshmen and transfers may feel unwelcome or anxious in these spaces because of the separation. People either follow the common trend or have been told to, keeping the unspoken rules alive.
Freshman Ava Mae Mierz stated that she felt like the different parts of the commons have become occupied with specific grades. Not only did she say that the commons have unspoken rules, she believes Pingree as a whole has multiple undeclared rules. She stated that she was told about these rules on her revisit day. Mierz revealed she feels like the space should not be separated and instead a space of inclusion. When asked about her opinion on if the commons should remain the same, Mierz stated “No, because who cares?”
Seniors Bridget Ayles and Charlotte Lee agreed that Pingree and the commons do have designated seating that everyone follows. They note that the pond room is used by freshmen during free blocks and the commons is used more by upperclassmen. Lee said she heard about these rules from her older siblings, and Ayles heard about it on her revisit day. Both Lee and Ayles believe the seating is fair. The seniors may be biased, due to their positionality within the school.
Julia Ghergurovich, a freshman, agrees that Pingree does have unwritten rules as well as grade-based seating. She agrees that the pond room consists of only freshmen during breaks and in the morning. She was also told on her revisit day about these standards. She said freshmen sit at the hightops, while sophomores sit at the round tables as well as the booths near the rice bowl station. While the freshmen are on the lower commons, seniors sit in the higher booths. Ghergurovich believes that these practices are fair, stating, “Because it would be weird if we sat with someone else.”
Another freshman, Matty Barresi, agreed that the booths are only used by upperclassmen, while the freshman sit in the lower part of the commons. Barresi also noticed the pattern on his first couple of days as a Pingree student. He followed the pattern by continuing to sit in the lower commons, where all the freshmen sit.
Junior Darwin Karch feels like it is fair seating because you get to sit everywhere eventually. Karch said that the freshmen only sit in the hightops and pond room. The juniors and seniors mostly sit in the upper commons and the booths. Karch also said that the art wing seating is used by mostly juniors.
Throughout Pingree’s campus, students spend hours on end using the commons and other spaces. Though the spaces are meant to be used by everyone, they have been split up by grade. Underclassmen follow these unwritten rules year after year, leading to a neverending circle of these habits. People may be too afraid to break these “rules,” resulting in them sitting with everyone else in their grade.