Wallis Rogin

The bell and the clock sit side by side, out of synch with each other. The technology team has been working hard to solve the problem, but they are not sure when the bells will be fixed.

The South Campus bells are ringing approximately one minute and 30 seconds early due to a malfunction in the clock on the domain controller, according to the Director of Technology Jordan Park. Both the facilities and technology teams are working to solve the issue and have the bells working properly this week or the next.

According to Park, the problem originates with an HVAC server that is supposed to connect to a series of other servers that are receiving an incorrect time from the domain controller. Park can’t be sure what is causing the domain controller to report the time incorrectly. In short, it’s complicated.

“Without exactly knowing what the problem is, it’s hard for me to say when it is going to be solved,” Park said.

Further complicating the issue, the technology team cannot work on fixing the bells during school hours without disconnecting everyone from the internet.

“It’s more complicated than just changing the time on a computer,” Park wrote in an email.

Other solutions, such as manually ringing the bells, are not an option said Ms. Evans, administrative assistant to the upper school head. Operating the bells manually would just result in doubling the number of rings.

In the classroom, teachers including Coach Hensarling, director of student life and AP Government teacher, said they think the bells being off schedule affects their classroom.

“I just don’t want people to be late,” she said. “Not knowing when the bells are going to ring disorients me throughout the day.”

Ms. Loden, a math teacher in the Upper School, adapted to the schedule change after a few days, but she still follows the correct schedule by the clock.

“When the bell rings, I have now trained myself to look at the clock and see what time it is,” she said. “But it’s caused me to start class early… and dismiss class without realizing it.”

Some students have said they are aggravated by the bell change, but others said they do not mind. Senior Charlotte Stakem said the early bells are “driving [her] insane,” sharing the sentiments of some of the teachers.

Similarly, junior Leighton Visinsky said she believes “[the bells] make for a very confusing and stressful learning environment.”

That said, many students do not have a strong opinion about the issue. Sophomore Elizabeth Harrison said she “could go either way” and doesn’t prefer one bell schedule over the other.

Other students, including Senior Addison Elliott, do not have a problem with the early bells and “love that classes get out early.”

Elliott noticed that while teachers tend to let students out of class when the bell rings, even though it’s early, they start class by the clock, resulting in a bit of extra time between classes for students.

Still, Park recognizes that this is tricky for some, and wrote in an email, “We know it is an inconvenience for [Upper School] and ask for patience as we try to meet the needs of all divisions and departments of the school.”

So when will there be a fix? Time will tell.