Due to concerns over students’ safety in the upper lot, seniors at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy must now park in the lower lot. This change breaks the tradition of seniors parking in the upper lot, causing uproar among students. Nevertheless, administrators insist it’s for the best.
Following an incident at a neighboring school in Studio City, administrators became concerned over student safety, “In the upper lot with pick-ups, drop-offs and the students who take the bus, there are a lot of pedestrians,” stated Assistant Principal of Student Life Boyoung Kim.
After a talk with faculty, administration made the thoughtful decision to move all student parking to the lower lot, “Having all the students in the lower lot is easier. The students can… park better because the lower lot spaces are wider,” stated Kim.
One major advantage of the switch is that more seniors were able to park at school.
Originally if you were a senior and parked in the upper lot, it was mandatory for you to carpool with at least one other person. This is due to the fact that the city of La Cañada, in partnership with Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, has a conditional use permit, limiting the amount of cars coming up and down the hill due to the fact that we are located in a residential area, “We’re actually using fewer parking spots and were able to remove that carpool restriction if you had a spot as a single driver,” expressed Kim.
With looming concerns over this switch, students came together on a committee to express their opinions. The main issue being the shift in tradition. Originally, seniors would have the privilege to park in the upper lot, formerly known as Senior Lot.
With these concerns taken into consideration, Principal Rebecca Bostic, Kim and Campus Safety and Operations Manager Andrew Evangelisti brainstormed ideas. They had seen other schools allow their senior students to paint parking spots.
“Why don’t we try it and see what happens,” said Kim.
At the end of May they made the announcement that seniors would be able to participate in painting their parking spots for the upcoming school year.
Though this does not solve the problem of following tradition, it does highlight the cooperative efforts FSHA put into listening to their students.
“I think the class of 2027 really set the bar high when it comes to [painting the] parking spaces and I am eager to see how other classes will revamp their spots,” expressed Kim.
Many seniors have used all of their creative abilities to leave their mark for the school year.
Mia Cuevas ‘27 let her creativity flow by painting the character of Garfield on her spot. She even invited her family to take part in the new tradition.
Evelyn Silber ‘27 optimized her creative output by painting a beautiful mural of sunset looming down on the mountains.
Even with the heat blazing down, seniors had so much fun celebrating their time together participating in a new tradition. Yet one question still remains: If the switch in parking lots never happened, would the privilege to paint spots still be available?
