On a recent September afternoon, a parent of the Westminster community was desperately searching for her child at Lower Clarkson around 3:30 p.m. But, instead of being at carpool, 8th-grade girl Karina Fofiu had ventured into the depths of the campus store. Although visiting the bookstore before carpool is not permitted, many students do so. “If you are missing kids at the carpool, they are in the bookstore,” Bookstore Manager Darcy Taylor says.

Many students enjoy going to the campus store after school for a drink or a snack. This demand for snacks causes significant conflict, and parents are now unable to pick up their children promptly, resulting in severe traffic.

While parents are searching for their children, an all-out war ensues in the bookstore. The location is crowded and in disarray. “We easily had half the Middle School here today after school,” said Taylor on a particularly busy afternoon this month. While the bookstore line is intended to end at the refrigerator, “they were wrapped around all the way into the clothing,” explained Taylor. 

In previous years, 7th and 8th graders were permitted to visit the campus store during recess. Many students resent being unable to visit the bookstore during the twenty-minute recess period. Darcy Taylor believes reverting to recess shopping would reduce the number of students present in the bookstore after school.

Trying to control the problem, the bookstore workers have implemented a new regulation in which only a certain number of people are granted entry while others exit simultaneously. The adjustment to the entry has brought a new order to the bookstore. Is the new entry and exit system a final solution to the bookstore chaos, or will they revert back to recess visitation days?