By Hannah Rajalingam

The first thing you notice about the fourth floor is the glass walls peeking into the library. Or maybe it’s the art surrounding Ms. Malloy’s classroom or the photography around Mr. Miller’s. It might also be the expanse of students that gather in the center of the floor each day to study, eat, and chat with one another during their free periods.

The 4th floor is situated at the center of Beacon’s seven-story building, making it a crossing ground for most Beacon students each day. Home to many photography, art, and film classes, teachers and students witness the films, photos, and art pieces worked on each day in class. Many arts students will frequent the fourth floor during their free period to continue working on passion projects or class assignments. Ms. Malloy considers the art room “a home for people at Beacon that need a place to go,” or even just a place where “people come by just to be around other students that work here.” Peeking in the art room windows, students and staff can witness future art show pieces in the making.

Venturing towards the center of the floor, students gather across from the art wall displaying Malloy’s students’ work to eat lunch and hang out. Frequented by students all day long, it’s rarely found empty. This small intersection seats students of varying friend groups and grades each day, displaying a wide range of the interests and backgrounds of students at Beacon. People hang out and talk about classes, projects, and homework. And every once in a while, a student can be spotted poking at the glass windows to bother a studying friend in the library.

As you pass the students’ bathrooms, you near Ms. Rana’s eleventh-grade history class and Ms. Choi’s coding class. Though the main attraction of the fourth floor is its artistic center, the other history, math, English, and coding classes also hold importance.

With many relaxing areas around the fourth floor, it’s no surprise that students consider it a good place to unwind, socialize, and “pause the bustle of school.”