Would you want to attend a school that doesn’t have WiFi? In my opinion, not having WiFi is a huge disadvantage for students. I relish walking into class and opening my computer. This isn’t the only thing I find frustrating about not having WiFi. This drawback also doesn’t allow students that don’t have hotspots to connect with teachers or classmates, do independent research, or get online homework help during school times.

That is unfortunately the case this year in Cresskill High School. After the flood, CHS was not able to get WiFi back running in the school. Students are forced to use their hotspots to get their computers working. If their DATA plan doesn’t cover a hotspot, they have to connect to someone else’s with their phones. As we know, most schools have internet connection. Many students including me find this more comfortable and helps them keep organized. This doesn’t just affect students, teachers have the same or possibly a more rough effect done by this. Mrs. De Marco, an LA teacher in Cresskill High School, says she thinks that “it’s a lot harder in a classroom because she needs to find alternatives for different students who have different issues.” She needs an option for kids who don’t have hotspots, or kids who don’t have a device at all. Finding all these choices is challenging.” She summarizes that “in a classroom setting, when you see a kid on their phone you instantly think in your head, ‘what are you doing!?’, but now you have to be more patient with what that looks like to you and be more lenient with the students.”

After the deluge in the school year 2021-2022, my freshman year of high school, I decided to attend a different school in the area. I chose this because I was tired of online school since COVID, and wanted to have a normal school year. In this new school I got used to having WiFi and devices free to open. I got used to entering a classroom and being able to open my computer, having everything organized right in front of me on my screen. I felt organized, less stressed, and I made so many memories during the year because I remembered how happy in-person learning was. Coming back to CHS, everything feels different. I have the same classes every day in the same order, periods one through nine. I dislike this more than the block/drop schedule that most other schools have in this area. For my sophomore year, I feel less organized than my freshman year, and I feel more stressed. I don’t have the consistent option of opening my computer since, fortunately for me I have a hotspot, but hotspot doesn’t always allow me to go on websites in every class. In general my hotspot isn’t strong enough to open multiple tabs at a time. I can tell that this is completely affecting my school year. I am conscious of the stress that I have throughout my classes.

I believe that Cresskill High School is doing the best they can with the situation at hand. Having to almost fully recreate a full school building for grades 6th-12th, isn’t an easy task. Mrs. De Marco agrees, “I think the effort is there and showing, but things like this take time.”

Unfortunately the WiFi is not the only intermediate issue in the school. There are things that I still believe that the school should be taking action on fixing. End of September, the Cresskill High School soccer field was banned from use for games or practices. The field has always been an issue for players and dangerous to play on because of the poor conditions that it had. Even with the knowledge of this the school hasn’t decided to act for many years. Soccer is one of the best sports in our school for men and the school still gives us little attention. Another concept that I know most students miss, is being able to purchase lunch in school. Since not having a school, Cresskill has been ordering food trucks. Students are complaining that the food is more expensive than the old school lunch and the proportions are smaller. A sophomore Cresskill High School student Erin Park says, “I think the school lunch was a way more fair option, the food is way too expensive for the small portions that I am receiving.” If the school starts to take action on these things, I believe that we will once again have a very strong school.