If you’re in robotics or the Media Arts Program (MAP), you’ve probably wondered what the weird building with the creepy cellar stairs adjacent to the MAP Annex is. It seems perfect for a secret hideout, or even something along the lines of a prime-time serial killer storage space.
But far from cold and creepy, the second floor of this building is actually the large and well-lit home to the English department’s office, while the first floor is used for drama department storage.
Known as the English Palace, the department office derives its name from beloved former English department chair and teacher Genevieve Palace. Following her retirement in 2000, the department office was soon after renamed in her honor and has since served as a location for teachers to hold department meetings, grade during their prep periods, store materials and prepare their lunch, among other functions.
However, the English department’s office wasn’t always as plush as it is now. The office was originally located in a portable building, where the library currently stands.
“I remember when I started here in the ‘90s, for years, we had substandard offices and it was not a good place at all for a department office to be,” journalism adviser and English 9 MAP teacher Michael Tyler said.
After dealing with a lack of space, bad lighting and overall inferior conditions for its office, the English department finally moved its homebase to the ground floor of their current building in around 2015, a definite upgrade but still not an ideal space.
At the time, the music department’s home base was in the current MAP Annex. That meant meetings were sometimes disrupted by distractions such as musicians trying to rehearse in nearby spaces; additionally, groups such as speech and debate sometimes used the space above this room and created a lot of noise overhead.
Through remodeling efforts in 2016, the department office ultimately relocated to the second floor of the new “Palace,” where the school also installed a sink, convenient areas for food storage, ample storage space for supplies and bookshelves filled with literature — making it a pleasant setting for teachers to meet and work.
“The Palace is really comfortable. When we do the writing assessment screening, for example, it provides a really good base of operations,” Tyler said. “It’s also wonderfully designed with lots of couches and lots of windows.”
