The past few weeks, the halls of Norra Latin have been filled with a distinct ringing, but what is the source of this shrill sound?

“It’s bell time!” says one of the students we interviewed. “Does it bother you, from all the way up on the 4th floor?” “It does, I hear it in my nightmares” says a frightened DP2 student, who one day came to school blissfully unaware of what she was about to hear. 

Since 2 months ago, the halls of Norra Latin first heard the ringing of Mr Moore’s bell. A sound that bounces off the first floor walls up through the pillars surrounding the atriums and finally rises up to the fourth floor, where everyday confused upper school students turn heads to understand where the sound is originating from. 

Speaking with Mr Moore, I gained some more insight and am ready to put some minds at ease about the alarming sound every morning. Firstly, the bell is a tool introduced for middle school students, and it is used to indicate the beginning of class in the morning at 08:30. So far, it has proven quite useful in its job. An upper school teacher also commented that even though the bell was slightly distracting, it was also very comical! 

“The students are now used to the bell and get to class when they hear it. It has become almost like Pavlov’s dog” jokes Mr Moore. 

The origin of the bell isn’t as obscure as people might think. “There already was a bell! It was just used outside for recess,” he explained. In fact, there are two bells right now, a bigger one for the playground outside to call the students in time for class and the smaller one we hear every morning. 

All in all, “the bell is not just for the students,” continues the principal. “It’s especially a tool for teachers”. He believes that teachers raising their voices creates stress between students and teachers, and that the bell removes the teachers from these situations and allows for a more organic way to warn students break is coming to an end. Of course, the bell also helps the teachers to get to class on time!