Transitioning to high school can be hard. A school like Malvern has a lot of traditions that you won’t find listed in the student handbook. These etiquette guides are our editors’ stab at describing expected behavior at some common campus destinations. 

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Hallways

The hallways are where you will be spending your time waiting outside of class or walking through to your next one. Here are some tips to make the process go smoothly.

• Don’t stand in the middle of the hallway. You’ll just be making things more awkward for you and the kid who’s sprinting to class who bumps into you.
• Always, and I mean always say hello and shake hands with Father Flynn if you see him.
• Don’t make the bottom floor of Carney smell any worse.
• If a senior is trying to get past you, get out of the way.
• Carney has the worst bathrooms on campus. We recommend Duffy.
• If you don’t lock your locker, someone might use it as a trash can.

-T. Pero

Learning Commons

The Learning Commons is a great common area to learn and work with your fellow friars. It can be loud, but it’s a great place to collaborate with others and experience everything that’s going on with academics at Malvern. Here are a few tips.

• The “quiet room” is not quiet. Be careful when going, because it is currently the de facto senior lounge.
• Some time ago, legend says, there used to be a room for student learning and use called the “Maker Lab,” where the teachers currently have a lounge. But that is just a legend. That room is off-limits to students.
• You can write on the walls, just make sure it’s actually where the IdeaPaint is.
• You can check out rooms to use for clubs or other stuff. Just talk to Mrs. Diane Dougherty.
• Be really nice and talk to everyone who works in the Learning Commons.
• Put Chromebooks back in the carts, and put chairs and tables back where you got them.

-T. Pero

Stewart Hall

If you’re a newcomer to the Class of 2020 and didn’t go to the middle school or are a new face on campus and aren’t exactly sure how to act in Stewart Hall, aka the cafeteria, aka the caf, this is for you.

• Leave your backpack right in the area where you walk in (or outside if the weather is nice). If everyone brought their bags around with them during lunch, the place would be a mess. However, during break or community time, when there are less people around, feel free to carry it with you.
• Seniors probably aren’t reading this but it is worth saying that you have to wait in the line to buy food if you aren’t a senior.
• During lunch, don’t leave the table you ate at looking like somebody emptied a trash can onto it. You will appreciate that one when you have caf-duty.
• It might be tempting, but nobody likes that guy who steals chairs at break when the owner of the chair is getting food. Just do us all a favor – walk 40 feet and get a chair from the stacks outside Mr. Gray’s office.
• Water is free at the fountain drink dispenser. I recommend you use this solely for the ice cubes because they are extremely underrated.
• Stewart Hall is open all day and before school for breakfast, but you can only buy food before school, during break, and during lunch.
• If the weather is nice, seniors go to the patio outside. Do not go there until you’re a senior.
• Try to stay in uniform while in the caf because Mr. Dougherty has been known to hand out break duties when he sees a sweatshirt.
• The water fountains next to the bathrooms are not magic. They just work on a motion sensor.
• Stack your chair after third lunch… or else.

–J. Magargee

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Duffy Center

The Duffy Center is the place to be for more artistic Malvern students. Even if you don’t think you are artistically inclined, here are some ground rules that are easy enough to follow.

• When there is an assembly for the entire Upper School in the Duffy auditorium, the freshmen get to sit up in the balcony. The view from up there is beat only by the seniors sitting in the front, so enjoy it while it lasts.
• Also during an assembly, make sure you leave your bag in Carney or somewhere else, because it’s easy to be standing there looking for your bag in the lobby and holding everyone else up.
• In Mr. Liga’s choral room, there are about a dozen acoustic guitars. If you want to play them, just knock on the door and ask if you can use them. Most of the time you’ll be able to then rock out in the lobby.
• Don’t climb over the furniture in the auditorium. It’s easy to get hurt (I’d know) and to scuff the furniture. So just don’t do it. Or put your feet up.
• You can’t have any food or drink in the auditorium. You’ll just have to finish your snack in the lobby.
• When someone is trying to get past you in the auditorium, please stand up and let him pass through. It’s easier for him and for you then if he jostles you and steps on your toes.
• Don’t touch the art up on the walls in the lobby. People worked really hard on those pieces and you don’t want to be the guy who ruins artwork.
• Duffy is like a second home for some of your brothers, and if you want, it could be yours too.

–J. McClatchy

Student Section

If you’re new on campus this year, you’ll find out pretty quickly that the student section is the place to be at all Malvern sporting events. The student section can look kinda scary at first, but if you follow these rules, fitting in will be a breeze.

• Go to the games. There a great place to connect with your class and the rest of the school
• Be aware of the dogpiles that’ll happen after every touchdown
• Be aware of and follow the themes. Nothing bothers other members of the section more than the guy that didn’t wear white or a jersey (or whatever the theme is)
• There is a strict hierarchy when it comes to where we stand on the bleachers: Freshmen in the back, Juniors and Sophomores in the middle, Seniors in the front.
• Remember for chants, we chant three times. Not two. Not four. Five is out of the question.
• Be prepared to catch the energy orb and throw it back when we throw it up to you guys.
• Don’t try to be a hero. I’ve learned from experience that trying to start a chant as an underclassman is impossible. Let the seniors run the show.
• Get weird
• Games against Haverford are a must-attend every year.
• Scream and shout as loud as you can during the game, especially when we’re chanting at the opposing student section
• Encourage your friends to go to the games with you; the more friars we have up there the better.

–H. Malone

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