Town of Exeter Shares Thoughts on the Academy

BY JILLIAN CHENG, ERIN HAN, BRIANNA HOU, JUNE KOH, CAROL LEE, CHLOÉ LIND, FIONA LIU, SOPHIE LOW, JAYDEN SU, and ANNIE ZHU

    Leaves take on their autumn hues in the town of Exeter. As the temperature drops, students of the Academy flock to the nearest cafe to snap a picture of their frothy London Fog or to one of the many quaint boutiques to purchase yet another striped sweater. As Academy students, despite these routine trips, it can feel as though we are living our boarding school lives in a bubble of Lion Card-access buildings. However, the surrounding town and its residents play an integral role in shaping our experiences as members of the Town of Exeter community, just as we do in shaping theirs.

    In town, a man with his nine-year-old son and his son’s friend shared his perspective on students at the Academy. “My general perception is that [PEA students] bring a much-needed bit of diversity and life to downtown Exeter, which would normally be a little stale,” the man said. “I run an arts and culture nonprofit that we do festivals in the park. So I’ve worked with lots of PEA students. The biggest problem has been that I connect with students who are great. And then they graduate.”

    Another pedestrian in town appreciated Exeter students’ traditional waving before crossing the sidewalk. “I always like when students, you know, say thank you for when you stop and let them cross. I think it’s a good tradition that should be carried on.”

    A librarian at Exeter’s public library agreed, commenting on the wait time for students to cross the street. “Really it’s not a big deal. People complain about it, but I don’t think it’s really that bad at all.”

    She added that setting library cards up for Exeter students was memorable, as “PEA just has such a variety of backgrounds that it’s really exciting to see what everybody’s up to.”

    Businesses in the town of Exeter encounter Academy students on a daily basis, and they shared a variety of highly positive and negative interactions.

    Water Street Marketplace, a popular antique store among students, houses artwork from over 40 different vendors. Sitting at the front desk was Keith Lemerise, the owner of the shop. “The cool thing with this place is we get new inventory all the time, and it’s always one of a kind because there are things that are 50, 100, 150 years old.”

    Lemerise praised the students who visited his shop, pointing out the newest trends he spotted. “I like talking to the students and shop, pointing out the newest trends he spotted. “I like talking to the customers. They come in and ask for certain things—oftentimes they’re buying a vinyl. A few people bought some neon and some different posters and I think the ones that get into [vintage items] the most grew up with it with their parents.”

    At the Marketplace, he has had a pleasant experience among Exeter students. “The students are very respectful and they enjoy checking out the jewelry or checking out the different posters. It’s kind of fun,” he said.

    However, things were different at Aroma Joe’s.  “[The students] tend to look down on the people who live here and don’t go there, especially other people around their age,” Eliza Pimental, a barista there, said. She thought PEA students can sometimes be arrogant. “They tend to give them the idea that ‘I’m better than you because I got in here.’”

    PEA students are already well integrated into the surrounding town, but it is still important to acknowledge the townspeople and shop owners that truly allow Exeter to thrive.

    The picturesque shops that dot Water Street are arguably the keystones of an Exonian’s life—the Hogsmeade of Exeter. Whether destressing over a steaming bowl of ramen at Oba or wandering inside A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, the shops have always been an enjoyable abode from the piles of homework awaiting at school. However, do those working at these charming businesses have the same opinion about their school-going customers?

    John Segal, owner of the 40-year-old shop A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, commented on the students’ passion. “You don’t have the hindsight to realize it yet, but you’re at an age where you’re really passionate,” Segal said. “So if you see something you like, you’ll say so and you’ll talk about it enthusiastically to whoever you’re with. And it’s nice to have that kind of energy in the store.”

    Ainsley Davidson, a staff member at Water Street Bookstore, has a similar position, and replied that she has had “usually pretty good interactions” with students from Exeter.

    However, not all reviews have come back so positive. Keith Lemerise pointed out that his wife, who works at the Trends Gift Gallery, has had more negative interactions with Exeter students. “So she’ll get groups of kids in, and sometimes students are louder, and maybe not as respectful, but you can’t tell sometimes where they come from.”

    Another review came from a college freshman working at the clothing store, Ganesh. When questioned about student behavior, she criticized some pupils for stealing. “Ganesh has had some problems with theft there . . . [sometimes from] Phillips Exeter students.”

    Pimental, who attends the University of New Hampshire, added, when asked about student behavior, “We’ve gotten a couple of people who order DoorDash, say, at 8:45 p.m., and we’ll have to wait until the DoorDash gets here after 9:00 p.m. [to close]. It’s not the majority, but there’s one or two students who do it.”

    Apart from behaviors that they saw from PEA students inside town businesses and at crosswalks, townspeople commented on how they perceive students at the Academy generally—some describing whom they might deem as the “archetypal” Exonian. These descriptions varied significantly, ranging from the most positive end of the spectrum to the most negative.

    One anonymous resident, a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, used “stuck-up” as a fitting adjective, and was quick to boil down Exonians as “rich kids.” “Sporty” was another central description that some used to describe the Academy as an institution. Presumably extending a critique on postgraduate students at the Academy, the same student claimed, “Most people get in with a scholarship, but if you’re on a sports scholarship, then you went there because you weren’t tall enough to get in your [college] freshman year.”

    Another anonymous student at the University of New Hampshire similarly targeted athletes at the Academy, asserting that there exists a stigma around this particular image of an Exonian athlete. “I don’t know—I think the stigma is around the athletes who go there because [we think that] they didn’t actually work to be there.”

    Additionally, some noted tension between PEA students and townspeople in the area. “I do hear that there’s a rivalry between Phillips Exeter students and townies in the area,” one anonymous pedestrian remarked. They were quick to add, however, that “I think it’s just a rumor though, just gossip.”

    However, several others expressed a contrary consensus, showing appreciation for the diversity that PEA brings to the area—in many respects. “PEA brings so much encouragement to have culture in the town, and I love that,” an anonymous resident, who was running one of the Jehovah’s Witness stands near the boathouse, said. “I appreciate the students bringing a diverse worldview, and it’s just very nice overall net positive.”

    Representing another popular belief, they stated that the Academy was integral to the identity of the town of Exeter. “I like Exeter, and I think Exeter is Exeter because PEA is here. I think it could easily be a different vibe without the school, and I appreciate the school being here.”

    Segal described the way in which he had interacted with Exonians during his over-40 years at the location. Referring to Exonians as a collective “you,” Segal described, “You come in right at the beginning of the year before you have too much work to do anything else, you come in before the holidays to look for gifts, you come in at the end of the year for graduation, and when you finish your exams, and in-between a handful of you find the time for extracurricular reading or even just browsing.”

    In addition to this strikingly relatable description, Segal added that there were certain students who impacted the town and his job on a smaller but nonetheless impactful scale. “It seems like in every class there’s one student who’s already kind of bitten by the old book bug and it’s not necessarily somebody whose parents have an arcane, valuable and interesting library at home. They just love books. They’re curious about everything.”

    He added, “This is sort of a good place to catalyze their curiosity. So when those types of students come in, I’m always delighted.”

    Some members of the town had messages that they wanted to share with students. Segal provided his own insight that the school “should let you have just a little bit more time for free reading. It seems like you have time for your sports and for your studies obviously. And for extracurricular activities that you’re pursuing, and for a little bit of food shopping on Wednesday afternoons and the weekends. But it would be nice if you had just a smidge more time to actually sort of, you know, hang in a coffee shop, hang in a bookstore.”

    A librarian at the public library shared her concern about PEA students’ apparent lack of safety awareness in town, saying, “That just is like, if somebody asks to borrow your phone and you don’t know the person, maybe don’t let them borrow your phone. I just see some PEA and even just some other students that are just kind of not aware of any kind of possible dangers. So just being extra careful in ways you might not think to be.”

    An anonymous pedestrian added that while she didn’t think that any behavior changes were warranted, she thought that “more inclusion with Exeter High School might be a nice thing. Maybe in the music department [and the performances it holds].”

    For many town residents, Exonians bring “notable recognition and much-needed diversity,” as one anonymous pedestrian put it, to a neighborhood that would be an entirely different one. Though for the most part views toward Exonians are positive, there is room for growth. In the meantime, gestures that may feel simple—like paying attention while crossing the road, being polite to restaurant employees, and applying non-sibi both on and off campus—will bring us forward in fostering a more harmonious relationship between the Academy and the town it calls home.