Class changes in Chamblee Charter High School can be, in one word, chaotic. Currently, students have five minutes to change class, with a warning bell two minutes before the next class begins (in order to notify students of the time they have to enter class).

“I try to go straight to class, but before, I have to go to my locker. I don’t have enough time to stay with friends because I am in a rush sometimes. I just wave at them. Two extra minutes would be enough for me,” said junior Kasey Jefferson.

Unfortunately, groups of students talking between classes cause crowding in the hallways, resulting in reduced flow from class to class.

“For students, [the five minutes to change class] is their time to convers[e] and hang out. So, the sense of urgency to get to class and take care of businesses is not there,” said campus supervisor Ronald Brown.

In the past, bookbag usage during the school day was prohibited, but with the arrival of Chromebooks in early 2018, school policy changed to reflect the need for students to carry their laptops in bags.

“Bookbags also are part of crowdedness in class, as there is limited space with having to go down the aisles. It is hard for me, because I like to walk the aisles and see what everybody is saying during class discussions,” said American literature teacher Yasmin Anderson.

The center stairway, the most congested of them all, causes an occasional delay in students’ trek to their classes. The main stairway has also been the main cause of some incidents students have had in the past, due to students not walking on the correct side of the stairwell.

“What annoys me is people walking on the wrong side on stairs and hallways. I’m trying to go up, and people are coming down on the opposite side. If one person goes on the opposite side, everybody does the same. I almost fell once because somebody pushed my shoulder on the way down,” said junior Alex Morales.

According to AP Physics teacher Marie Cabrices, the hallway crowding is a subject being talked about in teacher and staff meetings.

“It is being addressed by the administration right now. Especially on things like a drill, they are splitting students amongst stairs to avoid the crowdedness,” said Cabrices.

So, though there might be a change, the exact details are still unknown.  

“I just want a rule clearing hallways, because I have been late to classes because of that, and some teachers do not understand that,” said senior Merlyn Vargas.