Wilson is requiring seniors with free periods to go off campus if they are not engaged in school-related activities. If seniors need to work on anything they must go to either the new Writing Center in the College and Career Center, the library, or a classroom, instead of the atrium.

The new rule aims to decrease distractions from seniors roaming the halls while classes are in session, as well as keep the school cleaner. “The issue that we had in the past was with… garbage and trash all over the building, and just noise. Like a lot of people are in the atrium or on the steps in between classes, and since the atrium goes right up to all those classrooms there’s a lot of noise in the classrooms,” said Martin.

Martin says the lack of a social space in the atrium does not mean there are other places available to seniors for hanging out with their friends in the building. “The library is still accessible for people who are actually using the library for library purposes… [our library] is too small too have a social space and a work space, so ours is just there for people who want to [study] or get on their computers or something like that.”

Though Martin claims the free period policy is already in effect, many seniors say they have not been told to exit the building during their free periods. “I haven’t had [to go off campus] at all,” said senior Alex Helmer.