By Sydney Simpson – Editor-in-Chief 

The new school year has brought about many changes to the Jonathan Law community, including a new principal, Mr. Darcy, who commenced his new role on October 18.

In his short time at Law, Darcy has already made a positive impact on the Law community.  He has facilitated a COVID-friendly Homecoming dance for the student body, and has employed new rules and policies to help get Law back to pre-COVID procedures. 

“You can all expect that I’m someone who will work with all students to make sure you’re supported in every way,” said Darcy. “I also hope to continue planning fun events, like Homecoming, which is also something I want student input on.”

One of the most recent changes is a new attendance policy that went into effect on November 9. The policy includes consequences for repeated tardiness, including 10 and 20-minute detentions with a teacher and after-school detentions assigned by Dean of Students Mr. Ragaini.

“The new tardy to class policy is something that I hope will bring some common practices back to our school along with teaching students basic time management skills,” Darcy said. “We are trying to balance bringing back some basic procedures along with being fair to students.”

Another new policy employed helps to regulate the hallways in the morning before school hours start. Students who arrive before 7:10 a.m. must wait in either the auditorium or the cafeteria until that time to prevent wandering. 

A pass system was also re-instituted which requires students to have a pass to leave a classroom or study hall. 

“After a year and a half of focusing on just being in school, I think it’s important that we return to the way we used to track attendance and used to hold students accountable for their behavior during the school day,” English teacher Mr. Kulenych said. “These changes will help each day run smoothly and will provide some structure that we sort of lost during the pandemic.”

Students around the school have so far responded positively to the new policies and to Darcy’s leadership skills. 

“While we have not had Mr. Darcy as our principal for long, I respect that he is trying to better our school community and be his own individual,” senior Moira Staples said. “I admire that he is not simply trying to ‘people please’ and is rather putting in a genuine effort to better our school.”

Staff members are also in agreement that Darcy has made a positive impact on the Law community so far. 

“Mr. Darcy has been an awesome addition to our school community,” Kulenych said. “It was clear from his first day that he cares about kids and will do everything he can to help them succeed academically, socially, and emotionally.”

Ragaini said he appreciates how Darcy has sought feedback from all members of the Law community.

“It has been great working with Mr. Darcy,” Ragaini said. “He has taken the time to speak with many of the teachers and students to discuss any questions or concerns that they had.”

While Darcy has already done great things for our school community, there are still many issues that students hope to see addressed. For example, the parking lot in the morning has proved a common source of stress for many kids. 

“It takes a ridiculous amount of time to even turn into the parking lot in the morning and even longer to leave after school,” said Staples. “This issue needs to be addressed and rectified.”

Students hope that this issue, along with others, will be fixed soon, and Darcy has so far been very attentive and receptive to all student voices. 

“I have truly loved the honest feedback that I’ve received from students,” said Darcy. “This is your school and I’m here to listen, learn, and support all of you.”