The Death of Room 3D01

As many of QHSS’s students know, 3D01 has been a staple of student life. Every student has been in that room at least once. Room 3D01 in the college building has been used a lot by our school due to the space being much larger than any room in the school proper. It’s been used as a meeting place/assembly room; it’s been used for almost all major tests (Midterms, Finals, AP tests, Regents exams, etc.). It’s been an iconic part of all testing seasons at QHSS. However, back in January, the school’s busy exam season saw all the finals be taken in the school building, even though 3D01 has much more space than any of the other rooms, even the cafeteria. Moreover, the juniors were using 3D01 for their SATs in March, almost as if nothing ever happened. No explanation was given to students why the larger lecture hall was not used. But answers are still wanted by many students. Did anything change between the last 2 years? What caused 3D01 to suddenly be “unavailable” for both of the final exam periods?

Initially, it was believed that the main reason was tensions between QHSS and York College. Due to some recent mishaps of students between September 2024 and now, QHSS students have become less and less trusted with York College facilities. But, after we talked with Mr. Rivera, the school’s newest testing coordinator, it became clear that was definitely not the case. Mr. Rivera said, “We [QHSS] sent a request to York College to use the room before finals period, but our request was declined, and that’s because the room was already being used at that time.” York College has a first come, first served system with QHSS when it comes to booking rooms for major tests, and the college students get priority. But, Rivera reassures, “It’s going to be used for AP tests for sure; we have approved it and spoken with York.” So, there are no worries necessary; 3D01 is still being utilized by QHSS for AP tests (as spring finals have been confirmed to be in the school building), and relations between schools are not the cause.

However, the main problem with using 3D01 lies with class sizes. For some AP tests like AP Language and Composition or AP World History, 3D01 is too small to fit all the students, so Mr. Rivera and Ms. Leavy will have to book other rooms for the test. Rivera notes, “Even as a testing space, 3D01 is not ideal. The working space is very limited and the desks are so close together; it doesn’t provide a good testing environment. I’m glad that we’re getting a space of our own next year, because then we will use as many of our own rooms as necessary.” Maybe the new school will have larger rooms for mass testing, but for now, 3D01 is still the best room for QHSS testing seasons, and it seems that it will stay that way for the year.