This column is part of our student opinion series, “A thousand hands, a thousand voices.”
Boarding school campuses are designed to be a sheltered life due to many strict policies but many students’ lives extend beyond the campus property. Strict rules can make students feel limited and disconnected from their everyday responsibilities outside of school. Enforcing a more flexible policy at the Hill School can make students feel less restricted and feel more at home. Allowing 5th and 6th former licensed boarding students to have cars on campus would expand students’ free range and their ability to learn college-related responsibilities.
When in college, some colleges allow students to have cars. This could prepare us to use our time wisely at school, handling academics, athletics, and social life on campus.
Kids would use their cars to go to stores, shop, drive to airports, home or even for a short meal. As Hill student-athletes, being able to use cars would be a privilege in which everyone must be present at all their commitments while still attending all school requirements to then be allowed to leave off campus.
As the Director of Residential Life, Laura McConney, doesn’t like the idea of boarding students to have cars as she likes the current policy. “One of the reasons I appreciate that we currently have a policy in which borders are not allowed to have cars is that it removes temptation more than anything else,” McConney said. “A lot of other schools face challenges and face disciplinary responses when kids misuse the cars that are on campus.”
McConney previously attended the Loomis-Chaffee School and graduated in 2011. From her personal experience, “there have been instances in which students turn in keys to the Dean’s Office, but then they have their second set of keys and end up leaving campus at all hours in ways that prove challenging for the school to provide appropriate supervision,” she said.
The Hill School security and faculty do an excellent job at keeping the students safe and in line. It would be hard for students to get away with leaving campus at any time due to check in’s and school commitments. The security could watch who is leaving the campus in their cars to make sure everyone is following the policy correctly.
McConney also said that, in an imagined scenario, she would enforce rules of “turning in the keys.”
“I would also want parent approval for when you were to use your car in some way, shape or form,” she said.
These rules are seen similarly in The Brook School, located in Texas, as “Students must have a valid U.S. drivers license, be passing all classes and be in compliance with all residential life policies. This is a privilege and not a right that can be revoked or suspended at any time by the Director of Residential Life. Students must honor all curfew times and sign out with the house parent on-duty before leaving campus. The student will give their car keys to the boarding house parents upon arriving home.”
The Brook school is not the only school that agrees with boarders having cars. Another school is The Winchendon School, located in Massachusetts, which similarly states, “Both five night and seven night boarding students who are juniors and seniors can earn the privilege to keep cars on campus for specific approved use. Having a car is a responsibility and a privilege that the School looks to support and students need to maintain their good standing to continue to keep a car on campus.”
A closer school to Hill is the Perkiomen School, their policy states, “Boarding students with cars will have to have a permission form filled out as well. Boarding students are to park in the lot behind the Hollenbach Athletic Center. Cars are to be locked and are off limits until the time of departure. Boarding students are to use their vehicles only for transportation to their home or approved weekend destination. Any student with a car on campus may not transport any other students (boarding or day) in their cars without the proper permission. There must be permission from that student’s parents as well as from the driver’s parents and from the Assistant Head for Student Life. Students who abuse the privilege of having a car on campus will have their car permission revoked for the remainder of the school year.”
The Hill School could use Perkiomen, a surrounding school, as an example of a policy that the Hill could put into place in the future.
A Hill student, Lexi Brensinger ’27 also agrees with having cars on campus. “I would use my car to get food, and to take myself to club Lacrosse practice instead of paying for a school van,” Brensinger said. “I live close enough to school to drive home on weekends, usually my mom has to pick me up and it gets difficult when she has to come from work”
The Brooks, Winchendon and Perkiomen schools prove the rules can be followed by the students to have cars on campus. While parking the cars might be an issue The Hill School should consider letting boarding students leave cars on campus. This would make students more comfortable with an extension of trust and freedom of allowing boarders to have cars on campus.