One student’s opinion:
Inside a DV attempt at high school class segregation

By BETHANY LORD

WESTFALL — I’m a freshman at Delaware Valley High School. This year, it was the school’s plan to separate the freshmen and sophomores from the juniors and seniors. My typical day is proof that the plan was unsuccessful and not necessarily beneficial to the students.

My bus pulls up at 7:00, and the moment the door slides open my school day begins. The ride to school is nearly an hour long, so I get comfortable and begin to doze off while listening to music on my headphones.

Around me, a few sophomores and juniors do the same. After a slow ride, we arrive at the school, and I attempt to rouse myself. I go to my locker with about ten minutes to spare before the first bell will ring, signaling the time to go to homeroom. Most days I would waste this time by walking around and talking, but today I get to interview Dan and Doug, two seniors who are in the band, “Call Police.” This is for an article I am writing for the school newspaper on the local music scene.

Since it is before homeroom, all the grades are mixed together, with socializing throughout the halls. I find Dan and Doug surprisingly easily; they’re always in what is supposed to be the freshman and sophomore wing. The interview goes well; the two of them crack jokes once in a while, but I get a lot of useable information out of them. One thing I notice is that they treat me as an equal, not as a lower classman. The barriers in our school are not by grade or age as much as they are social. If someone feels that you fit into their social classification they will accept you, regardless of your age.

The bell rings, and the crowds in the hall begin to dissipate. I make it on time to my homeroom, which is a drawing class. Since it is an elective, students from all the grades are in it. I sit at a table with three other freshmen, a junior and a senior. Once again, I do not have a problem with the older students. They do not intimidate me or act superior to me because we are in the same social category. Or maybe they just do not want to waste their time arguing with insignificant freshmen. Either way, we get along.

The remainder of my morning classes passes on with a slow grogginess typical of all classes before lunch. I have one class in the eleven/twelve wing, but all the rest are in the nine/ten half of the school.

At last, lunch comes, which is not only a time to eat, but also an imperative break in the school day. Without lunch, we would be unable to learn anything.

Even though my lunch is supposed to be exclusively ninth and tenth graders, some juniors and seniors do sneak in. I imagine they have lunch at the same time but in the eleven/twelve cafeteria, and just come down for a visit.

After lunch the day goes by quickly. I have the last lunch, so there are only two more periods left in the day after it.

The day finishes out, and one more time I board the bus. As I sit with my headphones turned all the way up, I decide that I’m glad that the plan to separate the school by upper and lower classes did not work. High school, more than anything, is about growing up. It is about being exposed to different people—older people. It is preparing us for college and ultimately for life. I want all the exposure I can get.