Deerfield students are stuck. We spend all week studying in the Pocumtuck Valley and have little opportunity to travel off campus each weekend. Yes, the administration provides shuttles to Greenfield on Friday evenings, but the scheduling forces students to either speed-eat dinners or spend hours at a local restaurant. Yes, students have the option to call local cab companies, but these cabs are often unreliable. Dean of Students Ms. Amie Creagh recently acknowledged this in a Daily Bulletin post: “Students are encountering problems with the taxi service in and out of Greenfield. Security will not be able to offer rides, so please schedule your trip into town for another time.” Students should not be afraid to get stranded, so we need a better system.
Perhaps the Student Planning Committee could coordinate more frequent bus trips or organize teacher driving volunteers. Also, reforming the no-car policy would allow students to go off campus and visit more than just Richardson’s or the Deerfield Inn. The Scroll believes that day students should be allowed to drive boarding students of any age at any point in the year, like Brooks Academy students can. The fact that only senior day students can drive senior boarders for the final three months of the school year is unreasonable. If a new or improved system were put in place, students could visit local attractions and delicious restaurants in towns like Northampton and Amherst without paying $70 to an undependable taxi company. If the Deerfield administration trusts its students and wants them to explore areas outside of a colonial village, they should consider amending the Academy’s off campus policies and systems.