Over the course of the 2025-26 school year, parking at Shadow Ridge High school has been nice for the seniors who paid for their parking, not bad for those parking across the street at the seminary building, a hassle for teachers who have been accustomed to having their own parking spots, and just the same for those new drivers out there trying to get a spot at the school parking lot.
The lot is notorious for being congested in the mornings and after school because of parents dropping off and picking up their students, as well as new drivers navigating the perils of parking on their own. Due to human nature, individuals are drawn to areas of familiarity, and that’s why when one parks in a spot over, and over it becomes the norm, and when someone takes it, the individual may, or may not feel like it got taken. Though often the individual will brush it aside.
Allison Wilson, teacher at Shadow Ridge High School muses, “When someone parks in my spot, I do get a little frustrated but it’s not an official rule at the moment that spots are assigned. It’s more of an unspoken agreement, everyone just has their usual spot and mainly sticks to it, that way everyone can always have their “standard” spot. The problem is when the unspoken agreement gets jumbled. For example, if someone accidentally parks in someone else’s usual spot, it creates a chain reaction and then we all end up having our spots taken by the wrong person. The staff is working on creating assigned spots for the teachers again, but for now it’s a bit more chaotic than it used to be. “
SRHS senior Max Custard has some advice on what he does when someone parks in his spot.
Custard says, “My solution is to always park as close to their car as I can so I don’t completely lose my parking spot.”
Of course it won’t be the end of the world if someone does lose their parking spot, but it’s just how one handles the problem. The good thing is that the school staff is working on assigned spots for teachers, but as for the students at Shadow Ridge it’ll have to be the same. With less than two months of school left, hopefully the teachers, and students will play nice in the parking lot until summer break relieves them of the drama.
