No Bells For North Campus Classes During ACT Aspire Testing

Arrowhead disabled the bells April 4th through April 7th, 2022 for ACT Aspire Testing that took place for the freshmen and sophomores. This was effective at both campuses to prevent distractions with freshmen and sophomores testing at both campuses. Juniors and seniors still had regular classes on the testing days with no bells signaling the start or end of classes.

Jennifer Passler, Language Arts teacher, Chess Club and Girl Up Advisor at Arrowhead, said, “I didn’t see the no bells situation as a major issue. On a positive note, it broke the routine of a ‘usual’ week. It did take a bit of extra brain power to remember when to end class – but with over 30 people in the room, SOMEONE was always alert to when class should be wrapping up.”

Kimberly Lind, Family and Consumer Science teacher at Arrowhead, said, “It made things a little challenging, as I was terrible at watching the clocks to be sure I was releasing my students on time…My computer clock, classroom wall clock, and Fitbit watch all said a slightly different time so it was hard to know which clock to use to release.” 

Lind noticed that students were more likely to pack up earlier than they usually would on a regular day with bells and try to leave a few minutes early. 

Kyle Staus, a senior at Arrowhead, said, “They did not affect me as much. I also feel that they helped us out as it wasn’t strict time because the teacher dismissed the class, so if a teacher needed a few quick seconds to wrap up instruction, they were able to do so without students tuning out.”

Both campuses had bells again on a normal schedule on Friday, April 8th, 2022. The south campus students were back on their regular schedule and North Campus had bells again between classes.