By Lydia Yeshitla ’17, Staff Writer

I’d be lying to you if I said that friend groups among students don’t exist at Newark Academy. But have you ever considered the possibility of there being friend groups among your teachers? When you think of the term “cliques,” you probably envision the types that exist in a typical Mean Girls high school scenario. Though such cliques don’t tend to prevail throughout Newark Academy, it’s conceivable that the kinds of tight-knit friendships that exist within the student social scene are also prevalent within the realm of the faculty.

Sure enough, these social groups among faculty can often be determined by department. This is basically

inevitable, as the offices for each department are so spread out that teachers just happen to spend more time with those working near them. Therefore, Ms. Gabb and Dr. De Santa’s tight-knit bond can certainly be attributed to the fact that the two spend a significant amount of time in the English office. In addition to working in the same department, duration of experience at Newark Academy seems to be influential as well. As Ms. Gabb explained, “Dr. De Santa and I have a tight-knit link because we arrived at Newark Academy in the same year. It’s comforting to have someone else with whom to experience my first year here.”

Of course, the time frame of a teacher’s entrance to Newark Academy may not be a universal determinant of companionships. One teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, commented, “I understand that age can have something to do with friendships formed between teachers at NA because people are in a similar stage of life. But personally, I tend to be open to reaching out to a wide range of teachers regardless of age. I always make an effort to befriend as many teachers that vary from my age group as possible.” As another teacher, who likewise wishes to remain anonymous, disclosed, “I never really considered age to be a factor when forming friendships. But now that I think of it, most of my friends tend to be in the same age group as me. I guess that’s how it just works out, and I’m starting to feel pretty guilty now.”

From what I’ve found overall, teachers tend to befriend other teachers based on common interests, which makes complete sense. What is the ultimate factor that explains Ms. Gabb and Dr. De Santa’s friendship? Sure enough, it’s their common love for literature. Similar interests also led them to the shared pursuit of advising The Minuteman in their second year at Newark Academy. And why do Mr. Hawk and Ms. Gordon seem to be the best of friends? As you may have guessed, it’s due to their passion for Mock Trial.

But is shared engagement in extracurriculars a prerequisite for friendships between Newark Academy teachers? An anonymous faculty member claims otherwise, as he/she has “tons of friends within the faculty who don’t even work in my department! So actually, the friendships that I have with my fellow teachers aren’t obvious at all….I doubt the NA community can even guess which teachers I socialize with outside of work…because they don’t always see them. ”

Members of the student body may be unable to identify such ties between faculty because teachers don’t often receive the opportunity to socialize and form visible friend groups. In fact, several faculty members have complained to me about the complexity of forming friendships within the school community. One teacher disclosed that “the structure of the day is so busy that we don’t have time to keep up with each other as people. I think many of us would like to have more personal conversations with each other that may not have anything do with our jobs.”

So although some teachers spend time together outside of work, some continue to remain restricted from forming tight-knit friendships with their fellow teachers. Unfortunately, it’s not often that the faculty finds the time to sit with their coworkers and discuss their personal lives. As a result of the primary focus on their professional lives at NA, teachers may form acquaintanceships with each other, as opposed to friendships. All in all, though NA teachers tend to spend most of their time working together, when they do get to socialize, it’s pretty clear that they seem to enjoy each other’s company and get along well!

What do you think? We’d love to hear! Leave comments below.