Students filed into the hallways and staircases of the Diana Meehan building on April 29 as the smell of new paint and concrete filled the classrooms. From that day on, the classroom village was no longer in use.

Freshman Briana Gonzalez said she does not miss the classroom village.

“I really like the new building,” she said. “I think it does a great job of facilitating a good learning environment for everyone and it provides a lot more opportunities.” 

Jordanna Wachler ’24 also said the building is a great learning space and she enjoys the variety of spaces where students can eat lunch.

“My favorite space is probably the amphitheater because there are so many different places you can sit, and you can be in a new space every single day while still staying in the amphitheater,” Wachler said.

This was both Wolf’s and Wachler’s first year at Archer, so the village and the original building are the only learning spaces they have experienced. Wachler, Wolf and sophomore Amber Calvert-Jones agreed that they were sad to leave the village.

“I didn’t expect to miss the village — I kind of hated it — but now I miss it,” Calvert-Jones said.  

Calvert-Jones’ favorite classroom is math teacher Leila Chakravarty’s room, but she agrees with Walcher, Wolf and senior Ruby Colby that the courtyard amphitheater is one of her favorite spaces.

 “I like the new building,” Calvert-Jones said. “I kind of miss the village for some reason because the classrooms are more homey.”

As students and teachers continue to adjust and explore the new building, the doors to the village will remain closed, though students did get to draw and write on the bridge walls as a final goodbye.

“There was a certain sense of camaraderie that the village created just because everything was in one space in pods, but no — I don’t miss the classrooms,” Colby said.

Colby said she didn’t actually think she would ever get to spend time in the new building before she graduated, but that it’s “cool” and looks very similar to the plans and photos for the building that she was shown.

“It’s hard, because I’m getting really used to the building, and I enjoy being here, and it’s like, ‘Darn, I wish I had this for the last six years,’” she said. “But then I think about the middle schoolers who are going to get to have it for their entire Archer career, and that makes me really happy.”