Every semester, students quickly develop a sense of which class they enjoy most as they adapt to the new school year. The teacher, class materials and the roster are the typical factors when rating the enjoyability of classes. However, a lesser-acknowledged aspect that makes quite a few students nervous about the first day is classroom seating. They dictate intra-class relationships, class dynamics and interactions with others in general. 

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced the world to a new classroom arrangement of black boxes and mattresses. It is safe to say that the transition back to in-person seating has been less than smooth. With classes of 25-30 students, socially distanced seating has been nearly impossible. However, many teachers have still tried to make the best of the situation by mobilizing available room space to optimize seating.

The typical seating arrangement associated with schools is “The Island” formation. The Island set up the classroom in the classic rows and columns with each desk slightly separate from the next, forming “islands.” While the set-up elicits neutral feelings from most students, if a student happens to be sitting in front of a classmate with a cough, they will be subject to the uncomfortable and paranoia-inducing feeling of someone coughing on their back. Additionally, the Islands come with another downside: they greatly limit student-to-student communication, with the only options for interaction being turning around or leaning over to the next row. Although not perfect, the Islands are a solid 6/10. 

Another recurring formation employed by teachers is “The Great Stand-Off.” The seating involves splitting the classroom into two halves, with an empty column in the middle, and the desks parallel and facing away from the board. Most teachers that use this formation also typically have a middle row in the back forming a horseshoe shape. The unique geometry, however, is not enough to distract from the result of awkward eye contact. Students must turn their bodies in an uncomfortable position to face the board or are otherwise forced to stare across the room.  “I am deeply unsettled by the fact that I have to make eye contact with the person sitting across the room every morning,” freshman Sanya Bharti said. This makes the Stand-Off a 3/10 seating. 

A more welcome alternative is the “Best Friends Forever” seating. It involves small groups of threes and fours set up reminiscent of an amphitheater around the board. It provides a clear view of the board to everyone in the classroom and effectively protects students from breathing down each other’s necks while fostering communication. The BFF is the highest-ranked seating on the list at 9/10. The selling point is communication, a particularly important advantage to building close-knit groups. Biology teacher Dr. Karl Kovacs, who uses the BFF set-up, said, “People need to talk. They need to socialize. That’s what it means to be a student in high school.”  

While every classroom’s seating has its upsides and downsides, at the end of the day, it is important to remember the teachers that try their best to promote a healthy learning environment through their seating. So, the next time you walk into a classroom — whether it be an “Island,” “Great Stand-Off” or “BFF” class — thank your teacher for all the little things they do to better your time at school, no matter how small.