A seashell, a spider, a Ziploc bag filled with homemade pom-poms. These are all items that can be found in the lockers of Bishop’s students.

For many sixth graders, this year is their first time having a locker. “I like the lockers because you don’t have to carry everything everywhere and it is better than an elementary school cubby because it feels like you are at the next level,” said Javier Serhan (‘26). Miles Miller (‘26) said of this change, “it’s easier to keep stuff at school.”  Ella Kaminsky (‘26) excitedly said, “I love having lockers! It’s nice that you don’t have to carry all of your textbooks and binders everywhere you go.” 

A lot of sixth graders find that they use their lockers often. Dominic Simopoulos Carlson (‘26) said, “I probably use my locker more than most [people],” which can likely be attributed to the fact that many sixth graders have their lockers close to all of their classes.“I usually get my stuff between every class, especially if my classes are in the sixth-grade area,” he continued.  “If my classes aren’t, like if I have History and then Science, I will get my stuff for Science before History.” 

Middle and high school students often use their lockers as a place to keep their books overnight to keep their backpacks from breaking their spines. “I use my locker for storing the usual things like binders and books because having everything together in my backpack makes it a big hassle to carry around,” said Paulina Ai (‘24).  “It’s kind of satisfying placing binders into my locker because I know my backpack is going to be light.” She also finds that leaving her books at school helps her to make sure she always has them for class. “I also don’t trust myself leaving binders at home because I’m probably going to forget them,” she explained.

While in middle school, many students enjoy decorating their friend’s lockers. Francesca Bentinck (‘25) said, “It’s fun though to decorate my friends’ lockers for their birthdays and also have mine decorated on my birthday.” But, as students move from middle to upper school, they tend to leave their locker decorating ways behind. Bella Kellog (‘21) remembered, “The one and only time I had my locker decorated was in sixth grade when my friend covered my locker door with wrapping paper and taped-on candy bars.”

Older students have found that as their classrooms get farther apart, they find that they do not have enough time to get to their lockers in between their classes. “I never use my locker because Bishop’s doesn’t have any passing periods,” said Gabe Worstell (‘20). “I only use my locker for my history class because I walk past it on the way to class. If it were any other way I have to go, I wouldn’t be able to stop by my locker to get my book.” Neal Mehta (‘21) said, “I always start the year using my locker, and by November I stop because I realize that I literally have no time.”

Because lockers are not practical for book storage, some students also use their lockers for food. A snack locker is a random locker selected by a student group on campus to use as a communal locker for food storage. Sometimes this locker belongs to a member of the group, other times they just find a random locker in a convenient location. Gabe Worstell (‘20) said, “We have a snack locker for Performing Dance Group, where we keep bagged chips and little snacks for when we are rehearsing.” These lockers are filled regularly by each member of the group. “Snack lockers are good as long as everyone contributes,” said Zenzele Greene (‘22).

If Bishop’s were to add a five-minute passing period into the schedule, instead of just having a soft-start, more upper school students would be able to use their lockers for books.