School purchases more collaborative furniture for classrooms to increase student participation

Photo by Daniel Wu

Students in Seema Patel’s classes discuss and work together in pod arrangements.

Aiming to create a more versatile and diverse classroom environment that encourages student collaboration, the district is in the process of upgrading old classroom desks to setups intended to increase collaboration.

The new chairs, unlike traditional desk-chair combos — are detachable from the tables, which allow for more flexibility in seating arrangements and make it easier to rearrange groups into circles or rectangles for classroom activities such as Socratic Seminars or small pods.

“Students seem to feel pretty comfortable moving them in and out of different formations, so class time gets used well and efficiently,” said English teacher Suzanne Herzman, one of several teachers with the furniture already.

Classroom modernization and furniture upgrades are part of the district’s larger initiative of upgrading various facilities, such as the music and science buildings. Currently, most of the desks and chairs at the school date back at least two decades, according to assistant principal Matt Torrens. The effort to modernize the furniture began in 2019 and is continuing to expand this year. The feedback on the initial five pilot classrooms was positive, Torrens said, leading to the expanded efforts.

The administration has worked closely with the SHS Foundation, a fundraising organization that supports school improvement efforts, to research and devise guidelines for the purchase of new furniture. 

The standard classroom configuration incorporates 36 desks and chairs, along with a teacher desk and chair setup. The cost for each classroom upgrade is roughly $13,000, Torrens said. 

Senior Ayaan Haque, who uses collaborative furniture in AP Language teacher Jason Friend’s class, described the environment as “innovative and welcoming.” Haque said that the newer furniture has allowed him and his peers to be more productive and focused because of the more comfortable chairs.

“My favorite aspect would be that the chairs are detached. It’s such a simple change yet makes a huge difference,” he said. “Moving around in chairs is much more efficient than bringing an entire desk along with you.” 

With the benefits of collaborative furniture proven, many teachers want to upgrade aging desks and chairs for the new furniture.

MAP and English 10 teacher Marcus Cortez has requested to upgrade his furniture to the new modular system but is still on the waitlist. His classroom currently has the older two-seater desks, which he said occupies too much space and doesn’t allow for efficient classroom arrangement.

“Collaborating effectively is tremendously valuable both in terms of education as well as preparing for post-school and work environments,” Cortez said.

His teaching style aims to incorporate group work as much as possible, exposing students to different peers and challenges through the means of activities such as Socratic Seminars and debates.

“Tables are a way for students to bounce ideas off each other and display different views because once they go into the ‘real world,’ that’s going to be an expectation,” Cortez said.