New sound systems are now located in every classroom as part of many new additions and changes to the Placer High School campus for the Fall 2011 semester.
“It [sound system] has been in the plans for over four years now, to update the existing system and to coordinate so that the entire school would be on one system,” said Principal Peter Efstathiu in an email.
Each classroom at Placer now has new wall clocks with a speaker attached that can be controlled through a telephone and will broadcast the bulletin and special announcements to every class. The phone used to make announcements is located in the upper office in a conference room.
“I like having the new system, and look forward to when all the ‘bugs’ have been worked out. It is meeting expectations as of now,” said Efstathiu. As with any new implementation there is the possibility of problems and room to improve on minor bugs, usually expectations need to be low for a completely new tool.
For students and faculty alike, second period has been a time for teachers to read the daily bulletin to their respective classes. Now, the daily bulletin is read aloud by a member of leadership at the beginning of second period.
In the past there has been a fragmentation problem where certain classes would not get to hear the daily announcements and subsequently would miss out on information regarding extracurricular activities, important dates, club meetings and many other happenings on the Placer High campus. Now, with a unified sound system in place students will not have to worry about missing an important announcement. Not only can the system be used for reading the bulletin but for other matters as well.
“It can be used to contact classrooms if needed,” stated Efstathiu. “It can be used for our emergency plans when needed.”
Another great aspect is in the event of a lock-down faculty can communicate easily. According to Efstathiu that was a primary reason for making the upgrade. One other great feature is the ability to communicate to individual classrooms.
“If you call a classroom directly, they can speak back to you, it only works when you call the individual room,” said Efstathiu.
The system has been working steadily since day one and has had no apparent problems. As with any new implementation, only time will tell if the new system is helpful and improves efficiency on a day to day level.