An owl perched in a corner. Paper hearts dangling from the ceiling. A colorful crossroad sign labeled “IB Learner Profile.”

This is but a small sampling of the colorful, carefree decor within Ms. Jongewaard’s classroom, where she teaches International Baccalaureate English I and Theory of Knowledge.

Known affectionately by her students as Ms. J, her classroom is one of many iconic classrooms throughout DM, largely because of the colorful–sometimes even three-dimensional–decorations carefully placed throughout the room.

But this is only the first year most of these decorations are present within the room.

“My great aunt, she used to decorate classrooms for a living,” Ms. J said. “And so the weekend before school started this year, I called her and I asked her if she would be willing to help me redecorate and redesign my room.

“And so the Saturday before school started, we stayed here for like eight hours and just did all of this. We spent time making the owl in the tree, we spent time making the books, we spent time making the banner, we spent time making the clouds.”

Despite Ms. J’s classroom decorations largely being done during a single Saturday, the entire room is filled with colorful decor.

And Ms. J. did not input excessive amounts of effort merely for the sake of having classroom decor; she says she has a far more heartfelt goal with her decorations—especially the ones made by students themselves.

“I want my students to feel welcome,” Ms. J said. “And when they walk in and they see their art, or they see something they made, or they see a letter they wrote me, I think that allows them to be like, ‘Okay, I do belong here. I feel safe; I feel comfortable; I feel welcomed.’”

Although much of Ms. J’s classroom consists of decor that she and her aunt created, a large part of the decorations were actually made by students, including a “SAY NO TO 6 PERIODS” sign from last year’s protests against a full-day schedule for fourth quarter and a wall of student art directly next to Ms. J’s desk.

“My favorite part,” Ms. J said, is “probably the lights, and probably all of the stuff that my students made for me, like the hearts and the sticky notes and the letters,” adding “it just makes my heart happy, and it reminds me of why I’m here in the first place.”

Yet Ms. J still plans on making some changes.

Ms. J is considering bringing more Theory of Knowledge-related elements into her classroom, and she also hopes to better utilize the windows in her classroom.

“The windows in the back are one of my favorite features of this room,” Ms. J. said, “so I’m looking for something to enhance my windows a little bit, maybe get some colorful curtains.”

Yet even without these proposed changes, the reception to the classroom decorations has been largely positive.

“I’ve received a lot of people dropping by to look and take everything in, and I think they do appreciate it,” Ms. J said. “It’s not everyone’s personal taste, but you know what? I’m not going to please everyone anyway.”

Ms. J elaborated, saying “some people think it’s too kindergarten-y.”

Freshman Emily Morrow says she appreciates Ms. Jongewaard’s colorful and unique decorations.

“I think it creates a good environment for people to work in,” Morrow said of the classroom; “it’s colorful.”

Morrow also enjoys some of the posters situated throughout the room.

“They’re fun posters, too—not the posters like, ‘Teamwork! Jazz hands!’” she said. These posters include a circular IB global contexts poster featuring illustrations, as well as a Harry Potter poster next to the projector.

A novel classroom

“I guess I just generally like how all the decorations look together,” Chterev said. “And maybe the lights—the lights display behind Ms. J’s desk looks really nice, especially now since it’s been updated.”

Chterev also says he enjoys another unique aspect of the classroom: The desk layout being switched around extremely often.

“Every single day, Ms. J has a new desk orientation,” Chterev said, “which kind of keeps up the novelty and makes it something that you don’t get used to.”

And that sense of novelty, Chterev says, is incredibly important.

“That’s what sets a good classroom apart from a great classroom,” Chterev said. “It’s not just boring; it’s new.”

We’re covering the iconic classrooms of DM as an ongoing series of articles. Do you know of any other iconic classrooms at DM? If so, let us know!