Students at University Prep are still out of the loop. Last March, the Puma Press wrote an editorial about a lack of communication between the administration and the student body regarding important updates and news. Nearly 9 months later we are still being left out of these announcements that impact our lives. 

While there have been improvements such as a weekly email from the Director of Upper School Joel Sohn at the end of each week, students are still reliant on their families for news regarding the UPrep community.

Due to power outages across the city and on campus, on November 9th school the administration canceled school. The communications office emailed parents this news at 7:45am rather than students, given that many upper school students who drive themselves, were close to or already at school. 

“We made a huge mistake with the communication about no electricity at school,” Head of School Ronnie Codrington-Cazeau said.  

This lack of communication is part of a larger issue of the administration overlooking students at the times when it matters most. A month later, on November 30th students were again not informed about an important email sent to parents regarding a body found on Dahl Playfield. According to Codrington-Cazeau’s email, some students witnessed the police and ambulances arrive at the Dahl parking lot and their attempts to revive the individual before school. 

This time around, the administration’s lack of transparency with students created rumors and discomfort within our community. The students who witnessed the uncovered body didn’t know that counseling and other resources were available to them as mentioned in the email because they were not included in such communication.  

This has prompted the administration to create a system of communication that will allow students to receive text messages regarding important updates that would otherwise have been sent as emails. 

This system is long overdue and it needs to be implemented immediately.  As upper schoolers, we already do many things independent of adult assistance so it is important that we are treated with the level of communication and respect that we deserve. Especially as many of us make the transition to college in the next few years, it is important that we are kept in the loop and able to make independent decisions given any circumstances.