By Sally Portman ’13, Contributor

This year when students returned to school, some were initially confused by the apparently additional number of bells they heard in between classes. Passing bells have been put into place in the Upper School since the start of the year. They signal the beginning and end of each class, allowing three minutes of travel time in between.

Upper School Head Stephanie Luebbers said the bells were installed in order “to use class time better… We felt that faculty and students alike were taking their time getting to class”. Luebbers said she feels the new system prevents any confusion over being marked tardy. Though she was worried about having multiple bells in the morning, she said they are “so subtle that I don’t really notice; they’re just a nudge in the back of my head” that it is time for classes to officially start.

According to Mrs. Luebbers, the Upper School has “committed to having the passing bell until the end of the first quarter and then [the administration] will reassess it.”

The reaction throughout the student body varies but many students don’t find the new bell change to be a disruption.

“In middle school, we had three minutes [between] each bell and it worked well. It’s good that they’ve come back again,” Elliot Cofer ’13 said.

Others, such as Kevin Xiang ‘11, are somewhat indifferent to the bell change. “They’re fine, but [I] really care, they aren’t bothering [me],” Xiang said.

“Three minutes is plenty of time to stop by [your] locker, and still make it to class on time without rushing,” Julia Murphy ’13 said.

Mrs. Luebbers agrees that three minutes is “not that bad.” “Five minutes would feel like a lot of dead time,” she added. She also pointed out that students only have two or three classes at the most without a break in between.

Patricia Robitaille, Freshmen Dean, said that from what she has seen so far, “most people have been arriving to class on time”.

Mrs. Luebbers also agrees with Mrs. Robitaille. “We’re doing fine with them…[and] the halls are always pretty quiet when the starting bell rings,” she said.

School started off with a loud beep for a bell that was earsplitting to some, but a ‘ding-dong’ bell soon replaced it. “This [new bell] is the least offensive sound,” Mrs. Luebbers said.  Still, she “agree[s] with people that think it sounds a little like a buckle-your-seatbelt bell.” Murphy “likes the [current] bell better than the original”, even if it does sound like something one might encounter on an airplane.

While it is mostly an issue of preference, Luebbers had thoughtful reasoning behind the change in tone. “Iwanted to signal change but not interrupt conversation or be too annoying,” Mrs. Luebbers said. She joked that “there is a wonderful cat screech sound” she wanted to use for Halloween, but unfortunately “loading an alternative sound is a several hour process,” she said.

In the meantime, the passing bells seem to help keep everyone in order and increase the amount of time spent learning, so they will continue to be used, at the very least, until the end of the quarter.

Photo by Ilana Habib ’11, Photo Editor