The bell that dismisses us from our classes has gone through some noticeable changes recently, and many students openly express their dislike towards the new chimes. The majority of the Middle School find the new sounds startling and loud. One bell sound has even been compared to a toy running out of batteries. “The new bells are very whiny and the tone isn’t pleasant.” says 8th grader Emily Federovitch.

         Three new bells, one to dismiss each grade level, were put in place earlier this year to help space out students dismissing from class and allow social distancing to happen naturally.  There’s one chime to dismiss each grade level at a time. Students and teachers hear the three tones approximately four times every day for a total of twelve separate chimes. Considering the fact that the noises are not only dislikeable but also repetitive, our new bells are getting old quickly.

Some students are asking if the bells are even working to keep us spaced. “I think they’re working a little bit,” voices 8th grader Lucy Johnson, “but some people leave on the 6th grade bell despite being in a different grade.” Students are quite reasonably becoming impatient with the delayed dismissal times, but this problem can be solved with a little bit of patience. 

  Finally, people are curious as to how to fix this noisy problem. “They should make a survey with new sounds, and we could all vote on the new bell,” suggests Johnson. Some students have asked to make the bell tones themselves using the band’s xylophone. Other suggestions have been nature sounds, theme songs, or a pleasant voice reminder. Any of these suggestions would be quite an improvement to our current situation.

 At the end of the day, the new bells are loud, repetitive, and borderline annoying. I think it’s time we see what can be done about the chimes and if we can get new ones. Perhaps each grade level can vote on their new bell as Johnson suggested. This would make the end of class something to look forward to, not something to cover your ears over.