On Monday, Nov. 10, students came back to find the cafeteria completely changed. Instead of the regular circular tables that normally populated the cafeteria, students found blue couches and booths that had sprung up over the weekend.
“We wanted it to be a fun surprise for the students that [they] would be able to walk in and see. We have booths, and we have high tops, and we have places where [students] can meet with a smaller group or a larger group. We tried our best to include areas where it could be considered a quiet area,” said Rebecca LaPorta, assistant principal of Student Life.
LaPorta helped to oversee the unexpected change, working with outside vendors, the district office and North’s facilities department in what took over a year to plan, prepare and execute.
“It took all year last year to work with outside vendors, to work with our business services at [the] district office, to work with our facilities department, and it was multiple people facilitating different roles to make it happen,” said LaPorta.
After hearing feedback from students wanting accommodating spaces to learn, LaPorta began working on this project, taking inspiration from other high schools nearby that have done similar things.
“A lot of what I was hearing [from students] is interest in having more innovative spaces, and in our common areas, having flex seating and a more comfortable environment, which is more aligned to some of our comparable schools. Lots of schools have cafeterias like this,” said LaPorta.
This is not the first time LaPorta has overseen massive renovations here at North, with the recent LRC renovations that created what is now student labs and dedicated study spaces. As the assistant principal of Student Life, she oversees many of the major renovations and improvements happening at North, including the eventual renovations that will add air conditioning to the gyms.
“As the assistant principal of Student Life, I oversee facilities,” said LaPorta. “And facilities can mean a lot of different things. It can mean the brick and mortar of our campus. It can mean the furniture in our different spaces. It can mean the maintenance and preventative maintenance of the different pieces of the school, and then also it can mean sometimes the instructional tools or equipment that are in our spaces.”
When students came back to find the cafeteria completely different, some commended the new furniture and decor.
“The new lunch tables make people sit closer and therefore make them more connected. While the high rise tables are clunky and a bit uncomfortable, the new color scheme screams blue and is very North Star,” said Meshva Patel, senior.
However, other students had different viewpoints, questioning the change and money involved in the operations.
“[North] didn’t change anything besides making people shocked the first few days and making people have to find new areas in the cafeteria to sit because the table setup got changed,” said junior Alex Lynch. “I think the renovation was bad. There was nothing wrong with the old tables, and we didn’t really need more tables in the cafeteria, at least during my lunch period, because I know that the cafeteria is pretty empty.”
While student response has been mixed, LaPorta firmly believes that the renovation is for the greater good of the students.
“I just really want our students to know that we are making decisions to serve all of you and the experiences that you have,” said LaPorta.
