The parking lot at Rockshire has served as a free and easy-access parking spot for students with cars who weren’t able to get a spot at the school parking lot. The parking lot has been semi-blocked for the reason that the City of Rockville plans to renovate the parking lot and build a new shopping mall.
The school has sent messages in the past years that requested students not park in the Rockshire lot, with threats of being towed or fined. However, this only created a setback for a day or two before students recognized the empty threats and continued parking there. This time, the mandate was more serious. With the strict new rule that students are no longer allowed to park at Rockshire, students had to figure out new ways to get to school that are convenient. Students were either forced to pay the fee to get a spot at the school parking lot or park behind Rockshire at the Korean church. Everyone else had to find a different ride to school.
Students find it frustrating that their parking spots were taken away with such short notice and with no better option. “I am very upset about not being able to park at Rockshire anymore. Now most students have to either park at the Korean church or just can’t drive to school anymore. Though, the Korean church is significantly farther away. It takes about 20 minutes to walk to school from there, increasing students’ chances of being late to first period,” junior Tyler Coapstick said.
The change of students not being able to park at Rockshire is also inconvenient for students who are unable to make carpools and who live far away. “It’s really annoying that I can’t park at Rockshire because I live very far away from school and can’t get there any other way unless I drive myself,” junior Ella Cooper said.
The smaller size of the senior class this year resulted in room for the juniors. “I used to park at Rockshire every day but now I can’t. I enjoyed parking at Rockshire although the walk was tedious at times. It’s unfortunate no one can park there anymore but it’s understandable being they are doing construction. I would just prefer leaving from Rockshire because it is much faster than trying to leave the school parking lot,” junior Matthew Kunst said.
