Teaneck’s Open Campus

Sheldon Gomes

Teaneck High School is one of the more flexible high schools in New Jersey in terms of getting freedom. The freedom of Teaneck High School is exemplified in the open campus policy during lunch hours. This policy allows students to get outside of the school and enjoy some fresh air which is a simple yet effective way to get students to enjoy school. I’m sure that for a student coming into this school from Thomas Jefferson or BF or really any other middle school in New Jersey, the idea of being able to enjoy time outside without teachers around every corner supervising you was unheard of, even when I sat to talk with my friend Raymond Dundon, a sophomore here at the school, about it.

“It’s not like TJ (Thomas Jefferson) was a bad school or anything but this is really different in a good way.”

So often students dread coming to school because of the demand of having to sit in confined classrooms for long periods of time, when i spoke with Alexis Martinez, another sophomore at the school she said “Sometimes the classrooms can feel so cramped it’s almost creepy, and like you start to feel like you are losing your mind” But with the ability to go outside, enjoy time with friends, and simply walk around, that idea students have of school being a cramped, stressful place can be lifted from their minds.

Another great thing this policy allows for is being able to go to the food trucks, something as simple as being able to choose a different lunch then what we get in cafeteria every day is another thing that goes a long way in changing a student’s mindset of school being boring and repetitive.

Probably the most important thing the open campus presents to students is a sense of trust between them and staff of the school, Ian Crespo (Sophomore) said “we like to feel like to adults, and this is a really good policy for students to be out in the open and feel grown” even an alumni of the school said that in her Junior year “it actually helped me to save money because I didn’t have to pay for lunch, I could just walk home and get lunch.”

To summarize, no student or kid in general wants to be treated like they aren’t smart and responsible, can you think of another high school in New Jersey that gives you as much trust and freedom as Teaneck High School, overall the policy is really great and it’s what helps Teaneck High School edge out other high schools as the best in New Jersey.