The construction of a new and improved parking lot by the gym has restructured the parking arrangement.

For the time being, some staff and faculty now park at Pine Manor. First period and homeroom teachers get higher priority, parking on campus or at Longwood.

For Upper School Librarian Megan Dolan, who parks at Pine Manor, the situation is a little more complicated. She has to drop off her daughter in the lower school before parking and taking the shuttle back to Brimmer. She describes the situation as “an understandable inconvenience.” She usually comes in about fifteen minutes late, “not horribly late,” she says.

“It is going to take around 8 weeks, give or take, to get that parking lot done which will bring 40 out of 50 spaces back,” says Head of School Judith Guild.

Due to safety reasons, the administration decided to have students park on campus, at May Hall, rather than at Longwood or Pine Manor.

The disruption has raised questions about when and if parking will go back to normal, and when the gym lot will reopen. Guild hopes that students and teachers will return to a “normal parking lot experience” sooner rather than later.

As Longwood closes for the winter, more spaces will become available in their lot, starting Monday. Teachers parking at Pine Manor will park at the cricket club, and “everyone will be within walking distance of School,” Guild says. Even after construction is completed, at least ten teacher parking spots at the gym will be lost, with more cars going to Longwood or May Hall.

Currently, students are prohibited from parking at the gym due to heavy construction. The parking problem is projected to be the biggest disruption, at least until late winter or spring, when construction on the kitchen is set to begin.

Guild is aware that current parking places a burden on faculty and staff, and she is working to mitigate stress with the help of a new wellness committee, which will monitor how community members are coping with changes, including added stress from parking far from campus.