The ongoing $170 million “Transformation. Together. 2026.” construction and development plan has moved junior (and some senior) parking to Dadeland Mall, a 0.8 mile detour from campus. 

While I’ve heard many of my peers complain about this recent change, I find that I am grateful that I can get to school, even if that means I have to wake up earlier. In my experience, the shuttles are efficient and work well. If they don’t, it’s important that students know that they can contact transportation coordinator Henry Avila for help or feedback. I don’t mind the minor annoyance of having to park less than a mile away from campus, especially when shuttles are provided from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Through my own global experiences, I’ve learned that in places like Morocco kids in the Atlas Mountains have to hike through lengthy trails to get to school. In comparison, I’ve realized that a minor detour in my route really isn’t a big deal.

However, I do know that even though this is a small change in my schedule, it affects other students who have extracurricular activities that last hours after school ends. What most people have done is that they go to Dadeland to pick up their car and bring it to the Upper School Campus, something I’ve also done when staying late because I prefer not to wait for the evening bus. It’s simply a matter of convenience: there are still shuttles that go until late and if a student needs a shuttle at a time later than 6:30 p.m., according to transportation coordinator Avila, students can arrange for shuttles to leave earlier or later in the day as they need. Therefore, it’s not necessarily fair to complain that you have to bring your car over to the Upper School campus every day after school when in reality, you don’t.

Nevertheless, I do think that this shift in routine could have been handled better. Students who live far away and have extracurricular obligations that prolong their school day should have been prioritized over the traditional seniority rule where seniors are automatically given priority and special treatment because it is their last year of high school. By 8 a.m. when school begins, the on-campus student parking lot is nearly empty (seems like senioritis kicked in because the senior parking lot is rarely full when class starts). If the students who have on-campus parking spots aren’t even using them or coming to school on time, students who actually do care about such things should be prioritized.