Battling the dilemma between intercom announcements
By Ayomide Adesina
Remember hearing, “Hey Spartans!” every single day during 4th period, while awaiting the fun announcements about upcoming sports and clubs? Well, during the 2025-26 school year a new policy has been integrated—debated by many—sparking approval from some, while causing dissatisfaction for others.
The policy is the removal of intercom announcements. Intercom announcements no longer occur during 4th period, as students are required to read the announcements aloud during EMMAUS through Schoology. Despite enforcing communication in EMMAUS, it has been reported from many students that homerooms have not complied effectively with this request, where announcements are read inconsistently or just not read at all. One student noted, “Most of the time during EMMAUS, announcements aren’t read unless we remind the teacher, and even then, a lot of students have their headphones on since EMMAUS feels more like a study hall.” Although many students feel the reason for this policy has not been sufficiently communicated with the student body, it has affected a broad number of activities, clubs, and sport teams all around the school. Many have argued that attendance for their clubs have grown lackluster, and that an inability to recruit new, interested students can be largely traced back to this new policy initiative.
Ms. Jones, coach of the Fencing Team, stated recently, “There was a student really excited about fencing I heard from one of the parents at Open House yet when we had tryouts… he didn’t show up.” Vice President of Film Club, Kendall Change, articulated some of her frustrations after Film Club’s first informational meeting. “It’s just so frustrating because we have loyal members who usually show up to our meetings, but when I asked around none of them even knew about it.”
As far as those who have taken a more positive view of the new policy, they cite the removal of interruptions during class. They also have cited the removal of opportunities for students to use profanity or inappropriate messages. Many teachers have also mentioned how announcements cut into class time, hurting instruction. Predicting their duration, and the drag of long frequent announcements created a sense of wasted time and energy. Exemplifying the extreme ramifications of such, one teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, explained, “There was a time when announcements took nearly ten minutes—it was nonstop. With all the bathroom requests and reactions afterward, we only had about 25 minutes left to begin the lessons.”
Recently, a petition has been established—requesting the return of intercom announcements—cultivating over 50 signatures of staff and students who have been affected by this removal. It is clear that the impact of this policy is growing evident. However, it is unclear if the lack of club attendance correlates explicitly to this policy. Despite that uncertainty,students and teachers are actively forming a call of action in an attempt to remedy the most significant detrimental impacts this policy may have created.