Lately, with students arriving late to school because of terrible traffic jams in Las Palmas, TCS has been adjusting the schedule for the day so that lost time at the beginning is distributed between the six periods.

The administration department, especially the secretaries, have to work quickly and efficiently to make changes in schedule and ring the bell correctly so that school can work normally spreading the lost time throughout the 6 periods, lunch and window.

“Whenever students arrive late to school because of an accident [in Las Palmas], Mr. Arbabi always just sends me the schedule for the day with the updated times and that’s usually how it goes. Also, the bell just rings automatically and we never have to worry about when the class is over with the different schedule because the computer just does it by itself,” said Katherine Jurado, High School Secretary at The Columbus School.

Jurado mentioned how the change in schedule is not as hard as it seems and technology has helped immensely with the logistics of the bell at TCS. With incrementing traffic in Las Palmas this is becoming a common practice for the school.

“Usually the secretaries post it on the weekly notes, it’s on the High School Whatsapp group [group chat made with teachers and administration members of High School]. I consider that the means of communication for the change in schedule could improve because many teachers are not in the group chat and teachers can’t go to the office and ask directly for the precise information,” said Susana Arias from the High School Learning Center.

Arias mentioned how it was much harder for teachers to get out of class to verify the change and confirm the schedule for the day. Usually, when there is an accident in Las Palmas, many students that live in El Retiro or in La Acuarela do arrive on time making it impossible for teachers to go to the office.

“We never know when a change of schedule occurs, it seems like they just come out with them out of the blue minutes before people start freaking out because it shows up unexpectedly. We always end up finding out about the change too late. If we are lucky somebody will get a picture and send it to the Seniors 2019 Whatsapp group. If not, we are left to wander aimlessly around the halls,” said Sofia Niño, TCS 11’th grader.