At 6:30 a.m., principal Wes Solomon received a text message reading “KPHS: There is a network outage due to a fiber cut overnight at Kingwood Park High School, Elm Grove Elementary, and Woodland Hills Elementary. Repairs by our service provider are under way with an estimated time of repair of 12:30 p.m.” from the district.
“My first thought was I don’t even know what a fiber is,” Solomon said. “Does that mean phones or the internet are affected or what?”
Solomon and his staff quickly realized a cut fiber line meant a total loss of internet this morning. Students, who are used to being on WiFi all day, struggled throughout the morning since power was not restored until 12:40 p.m.
“It feels like we are in the 1800s or something,” freshman Kinzey Ache said during first period.
Teachers had to think outside the box with the internet and wireless printers rendered useless. With Schoology inaccessible, teachers reverted to the basic pencil and paper.
“It just reminded me of life when I started teaching in the ‘90s, it was no big deal to me.” teacher Jeri Clay said.
Most teachers ended up giving students a work day or assignments on paper. Some assignments were able to be converted from Schoology to lined paper, like the timed writing in AP Language and Composition. Other classes played organized games of charades or started card games or did work for other classes.
Students expressed mixed reactions about the internet being down. Most said they preferred having access to the internet, others are grateful for the possibility of a toned down school day.
During first period, CTE teacher Rolanda Wilkins said her students were shocked.
“‘We don’t have any internet?!” they asked her. “How long? Is it gonna be all day? Oh my goodness, but there’s no WiFi in this room either!’”
Students and teachers were not the only ones having to adapt to being internet-free. Administration and counseling are also feeling the heat.
“Everything is web-based,” house office secretary Christina Daniele said during first period. “I have all my stuff together, but Ms. (Jenny) Van Horn needs to do her one-on-ones but she can’t access grades to be able to talk to kids about their grades, so we’re on hold with that.”
