Stepping onto the stone cold cement on a chilly morning is the everyday routine for an Ashland High student. The quad is a main part of the Ashland high school culture. It’s the passing point between each class.  Most students spend at least thirty-minutes a day on it between classes, before and after school, between classes, and during lunch. It’s a major meeting and socializing point for all who attend the high school.

Upper Quad

The majority of the AHS population stands in the middle to upper region. Freshmen are confined to the outskirts. The sophomores almost reach the half moon, the highest point of the upper quad. However the half moon (a slab of concrete shaped like a crescent moon) is reserved for seniors.The juniors usually surround the half moon with high hopes of being able to stand on it in their last year of high school. Within this upper section, there are many groups; jocks, hipsters, artists, drama pupils, and the kids who do well on every test they take.

Lower Quad

Then there is the lower quad. The main reason there is a separation between upper and lower quad is because the lower quad holds a certain taboo among the other social groups. The lower quad’s sitting area is significantly bigger than the half moon. There aren’t any real distinctions between classes down there, everyone is generally pretty friendly and non-exclusive towards each other, unlike the upper quad. Most people that sit down there are artists, tech operators, and theatre actors.

Morse Street

On the south side of Ashland High School lies Morse Street. Many of the people who don’t hang out on the quad spend their passing-periods (the ten minutes between each class) on Morse St. Incoming freshmen are often advised not to go anywhere near Morse St. When you walk to Rogue Valley Roasting Company for lunch or an after school snack, or to the gym for sports practice, you’ll often get whiff of tobacco, lingering in the air. Throughout the school, there is a well known guideline: just don’t go on Morse Street.

The “lower-quadians” and upper-quad don’t really socialize or hangout. Though there are separations between classes and groups every everyone for the most part keeps to themselves and is polite, much like tourists in a country where they don’t speak the language.