This year, SWHS presented a new addition to its campus, known as “the Annex”… or is it  “the Wapping building”? 

SWHS’s new building was previously used as Wapping Elementary School, which closed in 2017. Some students, however, especially upperclassmen, still refer to the building as “Wapping.”

Dickstein grew up calling the building “Wapping”, so that is what she is used to. She thinks it should still be called “Wapping” for the students, like her, who have always known the building as such.

Senior Zack Gombotz agrees. He remembers people who went to school there while it was still open. Gombotz believes the building should still be called “Wapping” because of the “Wapping School” sign that adorns it.

According to Principal Frank Rizzuto, the building has been annexed by SWHS previously, the last time dating back to 1995. It has been referred to as “Wapping” ever since.

“Wapping” is what a lot of South Windsor residents are used to, which, in addition to honoring the building’s history, is one of the reasons South Windsor Parks and Recreation decided to include it in their name for the building: “Wapping Parks and Recreation Facility.” 

“Wapping as a school was an important piece of our Town’s past,” Recreation Supervisor Shelby Kosa said. “We added the ‘Parks and Recreation Facility’ part to make it clear to the public what the building was being used for.”

South Windsor Parks and Recreation inhabited the building from August 2017 to June 2023, allowing SWHS to set up for the 2023-24 school year over summer.

In the past couple weeks, assemblies have been held for every grade level going over some beginning-of-the-school-year information. One point mentioned in the assemblies was to refer to the new building as “the Annex”, and not “Wapping”.

This is to clarify that the Annex is part of SWHS, and no longer the distinct entity of “Wapping.” 

Principal Rizzuto said. “As part of that campus atmosphere, the Annex is part of us.”  A main purpose of using the language “the Annex” is to aid in the culture shift from a single-building school to a campus, which SWHS now is.