Although Brookline High School and Newton North High School have a heated and long lasting rivalry, I think each school does not know much about the other. One point that has raised some questions is whether Newton North has open campus. The answer is a bit confusing, but ultimately, many North students do leave school during the day.
Newton North does have a closed campus policy, but I would probably say these rules have a minimal effect on the average student and only apply at least in theory, to freshmen and first-semester sophomores. However, many of them go to Newtonville, a center of stores including CVS, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts.
For lunch, many students go to Los Amigos for burritos (it’s no Anna’s, I know), City or Newtonville Pizza for a slice, or Great Harvest Breadstore for a free slice of cinnamon bread (which is pretty good, though I kind of doubt it is an ideal business decision).
Students in their second semester of sophomore year and beyond can have scheduled free blocks, and typically have zero, two or four a week, depending on how they’ve arranged their schedule. For any freshman or first semester sophomore, a study hall takes the place of a free block.
One benefit of going to Newton North is the lack of substitute teachers, which I would guess leads to the most trips away from school. Each morning, a list of absent teachers is posted to about five walls around school, and to Twitter by some kind soul. An absent teacher means no class, although freshmen and sophomores, for their first semester, have to sit in the cafeteria or get an unexcused absence. A lot of times, people might stay to just do homework or something else, but obviously, many want to leave.
One way to leave school is to get a pass from the library, but only around 10 are given for each block of the day. Students with a pass may leave the cafeteria. The purpose of a pass is for students to be able to go to the library instead, but many just leave the school once they have been allowed out of the cafeteria. You can also get one from a teacher. Some teachers write one so you can actually meet with them, but others are fine with writing one just because they dislike the library’s policy of giving a limited number of passes.
Once you have a pass, you are basically free for the block. Even if you do not get one, some may try to escape the cafeteria. Around three adults stay there and are supposed to watch over students to make sure they do not leave, but they pay little attention, and one spends most their time playing games on their iPad. Trying to leave is risky, but many still do. However, a free during a lunch block means you don’t have to sign in or report anywhere, you can spend the whole 90 to 110 minutes doing whatever you want.
Even though the Newton North policy might seem overly restrictive at first, the effects on students are pretty reasonable. I feel pretty lucky when I see one of my teachers absent and know I will not be stuck in a waste of a class with a substitute.
Peter Baronowski can be contacted at [email protected]
