This year, there has been a new view for students walking across the fifth and sixth floor breeze ways: a completed courtyard with rows of desks open during lunch.  The courtyard is a welcomed addition to the school, providing a nice outdoor setting to eat lunch during the warmer months.  While it is hard to miss the wooden lunch platform that stands out against the two brick buildings, most students, and even teachers, are unaware of another usable courtyard at Stamford High that deserves just as much attention..

In July of 2019, 60 volunteers from AXA Investment Managers in Greenwich, Connecticut, partnered with the Stamford Public School Education Foundation (SPEF) for their yearly AXA Hearts in Action charity event to help renovate the two courtyards in the middle of the “old building”.  Before the summer of 2019, the courtyards were overrun with weeds and poison ivy, as well as old scrap metal and wood.  The AXA IM volunteers concentrated on the courtyard with flatter terrain, accessible through the 6th floor library.  They cleared out the weeds, painted the chipped walls, planted flowers, and even installed a chalk board for classes to use.  However, two years after this charity event, it seems that the majority of students and teachers remain unaware that there is courtyard space open for class just outside their rooms.  

A SPEF press release on the event in 2019 labeled the courtyard as a place where “students will be able to enjoy an outdoor oasis for studying, taking classes, and networking.”  It is understandable that in the chaos of this school year, organizing an outdoor lesson was an unnecessary complication for teachers.  Let’s pay more attention next year to the other Stamford High courtyard and enjoy it before it is forgotten once again.