It’s a sunny Tuesday morning when Kaycee Stapleton sits down with me on the auditorium steps, only a week into her junior year. The last time she had a full year of school was eighth grade, almost three years ago. To her, the time lapse is noticeable. 

“I think the only reminder that I have that I am older is all the freshmen or sophomores I see in the hallway,” Stapleton said, “or freshmen stopping to ask me where their classes are. I think that was really a wake-up call.” 

Where she has nodded to noticing small changes around the school, the school-wide lunch or the absence of familiar faces, sophomores who would have previously noted the same things are oblivious. 

“I see in movies all the time, people have these whole years of school, and I’m like wait—I didn’t really have that,” Bridget McNally said. McNally, a sophmore, has already deep-rooted herself into Valley. 

She’s expressed that her involvement in the school has helped solidify her connections with both underclassmen and upperclassmen, in turn making her feel more comfortable forming relationships in SCA and the theatre department. 

Indeed, it seems that underclassmen are having an easier time adjusting and registering  the changes that have affected each one of us. 

“It was kinda sad that middle school was cut short, and now I’m like straight into high school but, it’s been good so far, so.” Amber Glass, a freshman, says. Moments earlier, she was laughing with her friends in the cafeteria, a group of bubbly freshman girls similar to herself. 

That’s not to say that underclassmen aren’t having their fair share of anxiety over being back. Anxiety, in fact, that even teachers are finding noticeable. 

World History teacher Ashley Taylor says that she finds her classroom quieter than she expected. 

“It’s probably just due to some nerves, since we haven’t been in school for a very long time,” Taylor said, “but I do anticipate it getting a little louder as the school year progresses.” 

Despite the infinite opportunities for this to be an overwhelming experience for her as well, Taylor is thankful for an excellent staff behind her. 

“I have really awesome kids, and a really great support system being new here this year,” she said. 

There’s no denying that the first few weeks of school felt different. For some, they were hard, and for others, it felt like being back in place. But as Leo Howly, a senior, laughs about the unpredictable temperature in this building, he tells me that for him, it’s good to be back. 

“I think it would be harder, uh, if I were an underclassman. Especially the sophomores and freshmen, cause they haven’t really come here yet,” Howley said. But um, for me it was pretty easy, it’s just y’know, I didn’t want to come back initially.” 

As he finishes talking, Howley heads back into the class he came out of: Film Studies. Inside, students of all grades, ages, and personalities sit in a circle, laughing and chatting. 

It almost feels like things are back to normal.