2024 proved to be a busy year for Toll Gate High School. The Tribune is here to make sure you didn’t miss anything: the highs, the lows, and everything in between!
During February Vacation, a leak within the heating system went unnoticed for several days, leading to extensive flooding on B3. During restoration, a fire in the library caused further damage and delayed the return to school. For two weeks, students were transported back to the distance learning days of 2021. Toll Gate reopened on March 11, though the library remained closed for some time. In an email to the Toll Gate community, Principal Candace Caluori thanked the school maintenance staff and the Single Source crew for “work[ing] tirelessly to get us back into the building as quickly and safely as possible.” Sanvi Parekh’s article, “Overcoming Challenges: School Library Suffers Damage From Flood and Fire” was The Tribune’s most read article of 2024.
In sports, the girls basketball team won the Division III State Championship against Exeter-West Greenwich. The team was led by senior Addie Areson, who had an incredible championship performance in front of a packed Toll Gate student section at the Amica Mutual Pavillion in Providence. Alison Pankowicz, now a freshman runner at the University of Rhode Island, brought home an individual state title for the Titans, winning the 1000m at the Indoor Track State Championships. 2024 also saw a shakeup in the school’s storied hockey program. Toll Gate joined forces with the East Greenwich Avengers and play in Division II.
Mya Reynolds, a current Brown student, graduated as valedictorian for the Class of 2024 while Ja’Qwan Burrill, who is enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was salutatorian. Adeline Areson, class essayist, is currently attending the University of Connecticut. After several years at the Aldrich Mansion, graduation exercises moved to the Ryan Center on the campus of the University of Rhode Island for the first time in 2024, and they will continue to be held there for the foreseeable future.
The beginning of the 2024-25 school year was marked by the introduction of SmartPass technology for bathroom usage. An increasingly popular tool for public schools throughout the state, SmartPass requires students to receive approval from a teacher before leaving the classroom for the bathroom or other destinations to limit hallway traffic and bathroom crowding. Despite some early backlash, the student body has come to accept SmartPass as the new normal.
