On Monday, April 22, Archie Williams’ administration replaced the school bell that served the school for the past two years, updating it in favor of a calmer tone. At 8:30 a.m., without prior notification, administration premiered its new sound now serving to usher students to their classes. Unlike the previous bell, the new school bell has a modern and gentle timbre, generating mixed opinions from the student body.
Archie Williams Vice Principal Nate Severin devised the idea for the new school bell. According to Severin, the new bell was inspired by a previous, similarly tranquil bell that he replaced over two years ago.
“I changed the bell because if we go back two years to [before the] bell and PA system was updated, people loved [that previous] bell,” Severin said. “So when the bell that you were [previously] hearing first came, I had a lot of complaints about the harshness of the bell.”
When considering new sounds for a bell, Severin looked to adopt a more pleasant tone.
“We were looking for something quieter, and softer, and not as harsh as the previous bell,” Severin said.
Severin believes that implementing the new school bell is an improvement, but Archie Williams students have expressed mixed opinions. Archie Williams senior Sofia Moss finds the new school bell more tranquil than the previous bell. However, Sofia feels the soothing sound doesn’t motivate her to arrive at class on time as much as the previous, more commanding bell.
“[The new bell] is very different because the other one was more abrupt,” Sofia said. “The last bell really motivated me to get to class on time, but this bell is calming and I don’t feel that same urge.”
Sophomore Dillon Parsons thinks the current bell does not carry the same effect as the previous bell. Similar to Sofia, Dillon believes the new bell lacks a sense of importance.
“Personally, I am not a fan of the new bell. I was pretty comfortable with the old bell and the new bell doesn’t really give me a sense of urgency to get to class. The last [bell] wasn’t perfect, but I do think it was better,” Dillon said.
Dillon sees the potential for the new bell’s lack of urgency to cause tardiness for himself and the student body. The bell exists to remind people of the day’s schedule, but Dillon feels he isn’t familiar enough with the sound for it to keep him on time.
“I haven’t quite associated this new bell with the school schedule yet,” Dillon said. “I sometimes find myself caught off guard when I hear it and I see people moving; it just passes right over my head. I think it certainly could have the potential to make me tardy on some occasions.”
Students continue to critique Archie Williams’ new school bell’s sound and imperativeness. Severin believes that with time, students will likely adjust to the new bell, but the coming weeks will be a trial period for its success.
“It seems like people were mixed on whether they liked [the bell] or not,” Severin said. “[However], in the next couple of months, [I think] people won’t even remember the difference.”
