UPDATE 5/13: After faculty and staff saw an improvement in student behavior, the fourth floor locker bays have been reopened.

On Monday morning, students received an email from ninth and tenth grade dean Bridget Hennessy announcing that both fourth-floor locker bays were closed, effective immediately.

The decision to close access to the locker bays came as a result of an observed increase in inappropriate locker bay behavior. “Faculty, facilities staff, and IT personnel have noticed and/or become aware of concerning community behaviors,” Ms. Hennessy wrote. The email specifically cited excessive messes, eating, and noise levels, and damaging property in the locker bays.

Nonetheless, some students chose not to leave the locker bay, prompting Ms. Hennessy to position red caution tape around both locker bays to prevent students from entering. Freshman Ehren Curry said, “Ms. Hennessy and two other teachers stormed in and told everyone to ‘get out now.’”

Since the ban, there has been a noticeable increase in students roaming the halls looking for places to sit and socialize. Freshman Caroline Zuckerman said, “Now that the locker bays are banned, the hallways are being blocked by people who don’t know where to sit.”

Though the school year is coming to a close, the administration has made it clear that the ban will be in place until “a change in community spaces and student behavior is noticeable by faculty and staff.”