From August 21 to September 12, all PHS Dual Enrollment Students are required to stay on campus, and this time is called “Closed Campus”.
The rule was originally placed as a way for students with college classes to build good habits by focusing on schoolwork instead of being distracted by things outside of their work.
While counselors and administrators have been enforcing this practice for quite some time, many students struggle with the policy and have rather harsh opinions.
“I think that we’re almost adults,” senior Maggie Atkinson said. “The kids who are allowed to take college classes are 16 years or older, and should be treated like adults.”
Many students feel so strongly against the Closed Campus policy that they do not follow it and leave campus anyway.
“I think there are a lot of students that disregard the closed campus rule,” junior Colin Walker said. “Which makes closed campus less effective.”
Out of the students who do listen to the rules, some notice others who leave the campus and take the rule for a mere suggestion. This makes the “Closed Campus” rule less valuable than the counselors intend it to be.
“This policy was actually born out of necessity,” guidance counselor Mrs. Kara Miller said. “Over the last eight years, we’ve had students taking college classes, but the number has increased. My first year I had twenty kids in my alphabet, and I’m up to 45 alone.”
With increased numbers of dual enrollment students, counselors found that this policy would be a better way to assist students in their first few weeks of college classes and help them build good habits for their first college experience.
“It is to help avoid bigger problems down the line,” Mrs. Miller said. “And the other piece is to help develop good habits. It is hard to manage ourselves when we have all this freedom. It is a new responsibility for some students, and so we are trying to help create good habits.”
While Mrs. Miller provides quality reasons, there is still pushback from a majority of the dual enrollment students.
“I believe that it makes a lot of sense during the first semester so that everyone can get good study habits,” Walker said. “However, I believe that during the second semester, it is much less important because most of the people taking dual enrollment second semester took it first semester, so I believe it is kind of redundant.”
Walker’s compromise to this whole ordeal is to enforce the “Closed Campus” rule only to the firstcomers. This could be beneficial in many ways by being able to help and be there for the newbies but not forcing the students who have been doing this to repeat the steps.
“I guess it depends on the purpose [of leaving campus],” senior Patrick Haney said. “I don’t know. For me, it is fine.”
Some students at PHS strive to be well-balanced students, and despite not caring for the policy, they still come to school and get their work done.
“You will find the counseling staff is a little bit more on the gracious side,” Mrs. Miller said. “We want you to make good choices, not because we want to control your lives, but we want you to be successful, and this is our chance to kind of hold your hand and launch you off into college with support.”
