In the 1960s, the exclusive senior lounge found its place on the second floor of the old Adelphia building, nestled below the chapel and boasting a large leather couch as well as several bright and funky colored chairs. As the years rolled by, the lounge moved with the changing landscape of the campus. In the 90’s it had made its way to the first floor of the old Adelphia, adjacent to the counseling office. By the early 2000s, it had shifted behind the Dean of Students Office.
While the design and location of the space varied throughout the decades, like high school experiences often vary across generations and individuals, certain elements remain timeless. The senior lounge was removed from Prep in the early 2000s, but the enduring elements of senior unity and camaraderie remain constant today.
The senior lounge was created “to promote senior unity and to give the seniors a special place to hang out on campus,” noted Marco Magnano ’92.
Mr. Elsner ’97 noted that it was a space to “hang out with whoever had a free period with you, not necessarily just your friends.” The space was not only used during free periods to get a head start on homework, but also during lunch if students didn’t want to go off campus.
The lounge was also a place to get information. Amy Magnano ’98 said she “remembers checking the ski forecasts every Wednesday with friends when we had an early release to decide whether to cut out early to ski or not.”
Elsner remembered that “senior superlatives used to be a lot less formal, so the voting would be put up on the walls. “I got voted 2nd best car (the voters probably meant memorable) with a 1979 hatchback Corolla”.
Aside from real news, fake news was also displayed in the lounge. Both Elsner ‘97 and Amy Magnano ‘98 recollected that every now and then an inappropriate poster would be put up, but eventually taken down since there was no direct adult supervision. Amy Magnano ‘98 recounted the lounge being “closed as a punishment shortly after a senior poll was published by an anonymous author. The goal was to punish the whole class so someone would fess up”.
Regardless of troublesome moments, there were also pleasant memories of the lounge. Marco Magnano ‘92 remembers how “Jade Bermudez ‘92 spent the first few months of school painting the entire back three walls with a fantastic mural.”
Additionally, Mrs. Lovejoy ‘97 wondered if the senior lounge is why she and her husband are married today. “Because they were in the same class and spent all their free periods in the senior lounge together.”
While the senior lounge no longer exists at Prep, it is evident that its legacy continues to live on today. Its legacy lives on in shared stories and cherished recollections of a time when a simple room brought a class together in ways like no other. Although a designated senior space no longer exists, seniors today find comfort throughout school; intermixed with other classes, in spaces such as the great room and library.
