Winter weather impacts classrooms and commute

After braving the slippery, narrow roads this morning, students walking into GHS were welcomed by the familiar chaos that comes with any snow storm. Today’s victims? Flooded classrooms, questionable student driving, and a changed midterm schedule. 

This weekend’s storm dumped about 27 inches of snow in Gloucester – an amount the city has not seen in years. The occasion did not go unnoticed, as the brown water and mushy ceiling tiles inhabiting Spanish teacher Jennifer Flaherty’s floor were hard to ignore. 

Due to the frigid temperatures this weekend, a pipe above Flaherty’s classroom burst, sending water into her room, and also into Mrs. Unis’ classroom next door. 

“I came in at 6:50 this morning and there was a puddle of brown water and about 7 or 8 ceiling tiles were down,” Flaherty said. 

The rest of her classes will be held in the cafeteria today, while Mrs. Unis was able to return to her room after the first two classes of the day. 

This is not the first time the high school has experienced this issue, as a snow storm in 2017 led to flooding on the top floor hallway of the science wing. 

Before students even made it into the building they had to conquer both the roads and the parking lot, which was still being plowed as of last night. 

Due to the slower commute, administration delayed the attendance by a few minutes to give students – especially student athletes – more time to make it into the building. 

“It made me hydroplane like four times because I was rushing and I wasn’t sure if they were going to hold the bell,” senior swimming/diving captain Esme Sarrouf said. “I would’ve been late if they didn’t.” 

The route on Centennial Ave was difficult for both walkers and riders. Icy sidewalks, tall snow banks and parked cars on the road made two way travel difficult.

“I left early this morning, and there was a lot of chaos on the road,” Jessica Harvey said. “I hydroplaned multiple times, and the rotary was really backed up. Once I got to Centennial there was a back up for five minute because a huge truck was trying to pass. Even with them holding attendance, I was still late to school.”

Students expected to come in today and complete midterm exams for their G, F, and E block classes. However, an email was sent out Monday night (after Tuesday’s cancellation), to announce that the first day of midterms would be moved to Thursday. 

“We’re trying to find a balance to give people enough time to prepare,” Principal John Perella said. “If we give teachers one more day to prepare and help students get ready then maybe it will be a good thing.”  

Some weather sites have already brought up the possibility of another storm this upcoming weekend. Although it is too far out to really tell the severity of it, some weather models are anticipating more snow.