For years students of McIntosh have complained about the school’s architecture and the problems with the flow of traffic in the school halls. The traffic flow problem causes some students to be late to class; therefore,  the tardy policy should be changed until the problems are addressed. There are many areas that need improvement.

Senior Samantha (Sammie) Churan said that she has been complaining about how the school has been built since her freshman year. Samantha said she is glad the school decided to build the walkway between upper level, however.  She said that she believes that they should have built it earlier. Sammie said that she dislikes the double doors and entryway of the downstairs English hall. She said, “It’s narrow and too crowded. It takes me about one minute to get through the entryway on a normal day. On rainy days, it takes about three minutes.” Sammie said that when it is nice outside, she usually goes outside and takes shortcuts to avoid student traffic.

The doors that open in two different directions create another obstacle. A pair of doors open inward while others open outward, taking space that student need to get through the crowded hall. Sammie said, “Some students shut the doors that open outwards to avoid getting hit. Others don’t see the door and run into it. There’s also a lock box at the end of the hall where students’ shoulders run into it.”

Junior Margaret (Maggie) Eldredge said, “The new walkway makes traffic easier to get through [on normal days].” She said that she believes students who stand in the middle of the hall to talk instead of standing aside contribute to some of the traffic flow problems through the school. She said it is easy for her to get through the school halls on nice days, but on rainy days, she would rather take the rain. Maggie said, “It’s insane. It’s too crowded and too loud.” She said it takes her about two minutes to get through the narrow entryway in the downstairs English hall on nice days, but on rainy days, she escapes traffic by going outside.

Sophomore Isabella Skonberg came to McIntosh a year before the new walkway was built. Isabella said, “Some people say [the walkway] is not used a lot, but it is. It helps [the traffic flow]. But it should have been built a while ago.” Isabella says she feels she has an advantage over the students who complain about the traffic in the English entryway. Because her class is close, she said that she can quickly get through and not get involved in the traffic. She said that she likes being able to get to her classes early so she can talk to her friends before class starts. When it’s raining outside, Isabella said that she prefers to take the rain. She said she finds it frustrating to try to get through the stressful traffic. She says it takes her one minute to get through the entryway on a nice day, but it takes her five minutes at most to get through on rainy days.

Isabella said, “It’s frustrating traveling through the entire hall. But when I try to go up the stairs, it’s difficult because people will be standing there, and no one realizes that others are trying to go around. And blocking that stairwell makes the traffic worse.” Isabella also complained about the chorus doors near the cafeteria because they open outward. She said that she has been hit many times as the doors swing open.

It’s not just students that complain about the halls. Dr. Thomas Stockdale, a social studies teacher, said that he has been complaining since he started working at McIntosh. Although he loves the new walkway, he said that there are still problems with traffic. He said that he feels the entryway is too crowded. Dr. Stockdale said, “I sometimes wonder if the students struggle more getting to their class because the time to get to class was cut. And that’s when the tardy policy comes into question.” Dr. Stockdale said that the cafeteria is very crowded in the mornings and during lunch on rainy days. Dr. Stockdale said that his pet peeve is when students are late for class, and he believes that this issue needs to be resolved.