Students in 7th and 8th grade have noticed an increase in the amount of missing items since last year. Many students have lost valuable and even irreplaceable possessions on school grounds.
According to a poll answered by 59 students, 66.7% have lost items on campus this school year. These items mostly include sweatshirts, bags that carry valuables, money, jewelry, and Emi Jay claw clips. Only 19.5% of students have been able to recover these items.
Bella Ortega ‘29 lost her watch, which she later recovered, at school. “I took my watch off for my basketball game and put it in my alo bag in the locker room,” she said. “When I got home, I checked my bag and realized that it wasn’t in there.”
Because so many items have gone missing, students have become more suspicious of each other. In fact, some students have come to the conclusion that their belongings were actually stolen.
“Students shouldn’t have to worry about their items being taken,” said Valeria Cepero ‘29. “In our community, it shouldn’t be our concern to be worried about those things.”
Elsa Wick ‘29 is one student who believes that her alo bag didn’t just disappear. “I left my bag in the innovation center, and when I went to get it, it was gone,” she said. Her bag contained important and pricey items such as 3 Triangl bathing suits, tennis shoes that aren’t manufactured anymore, and alo tennis skirts. “They probably took it because they wanted the bag or are too embarrassed or scared to return it,” said Wick.
However, Upper School Head Mrs. Consuegra, feels that students shouldn’t be so quick to assume items have been stolen. “I don’t think we should assume first and foremost that someone is stealing. That’s a very serious accusation that I think should only come with proof,” she said.
Colette Isaias ‘29 agrees. She recently entered Carrollton and thinks that some students are jumping to conclusions. “People probably have just misplaced their items or confused them with someone else’s, “ she said. Isaias also pointed out that many students have similar items.
Associate Dean of Student Life Mrs. Aguiar also thinks it’s possible that students are making honest mistakes. “Part of the issue is that many of the girls here have the same type of item,” she said. “So oftentimes I notice that people might accidentally take things because they think it’s theirs or it looks exactly like a classmate’s or their friend’s.”
According to Mrs. Consuegra, one of the problems is that “the girls in seventh and eighth grade and in the high school are not very careful about where they put their belongings on a daily basis.”
While it is a valid point that students should be more careful with their belongings, one of the reasons students leave their bags in common spaces is because they feel they have no other choice. “We have nowhere to put our things as most bags don’t fit into our tiny lockers,” said Alexa Roos ‘29.
In addition, the lockers provided to seventh and eighth graders do not even have locks. “That’s something we probably have to work on,” acknowledged Mrs. Consuegra.
In the meantime, students should take measures to protect their belongings. “I think people should go back to the preschool habit of labeling their items with their names on them”, said Olivia Cuervo ’29. This way people are less likely to lose any items.
Students should also make sure to check the lost and found. This is something Mrs. Consuegra doesn’t think students do enough. “Go inside the gymnasium and see the amount of water bottles, the amount of books, the amount of sweatshirts, the amount of pants, the amount of shoes that get left behind on this campus on a regular basis,” she said.
Finally, “students need to be more proactive [by] not bringing valuables to school [and] not bringing expensive jewelry to school,” said Mrs. Consuegra.
If a student does lose an item that is not in lost and found, she should contact administration immediately. The important thing is to be mindful and self aware, and to assume the best in each other.
