Beyond the bell: the people who keep NCHS running before and after school

Lucy Paine, Editor-in-Chief
Featured Graphic by Lucy Paine

Before the First Bell

At 6 a.m., New Canaan High School is already awake. While most students are still getting ready for school, custodians and Food Services staff are preparing the building for another day. Floors need attention, the cafeteria needs to be set up, and meals must be prepared before students begin filling the halls. “The morning crew starts at 6:00 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m., and the night crew comes in from 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.,” Head Custodian David Reyes said.

The morning custodial crew opens the building and sets up the cafeteria, completing work that cannot easily be done while classes are in session. Once students arrive, the custodians shift their focus to unexpected spills, overflowing bathrooms and requests from teachers who need desks, chairs or other equipment moved. “We try to take care of the odds and ends that we normally can’t get to during the school day,” Mr. Reyes said.

Food Services staff also arrive around 6 a.m. to cook meals, check deliveries, restock supplies and prepare food for the school community. Their work requires careful planning and physical effort, including moving carts, stocking beverages and lifting heavy supplies. “Food Services is a very physical job. Staff spend long periods of time on their feet, push carts, move and stock beverages and food, and lift and carry heavy items, including cases weighing up to 40 pounds,” Director of Food Services Michelle Santelli said.

During the School Day

Once students arrive, campus monitors help maintain safety throughout the building. Their morning begins with directing traffic outside before they move indoors to walk the halls and check doors. “From 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., we direct the incoming traffic to ensure the safety of the staff and the students. At 8:15 a.m., we are done with traffic duty and we come into the school to make sure we keep the students and staff safe,” campus monitor Hampton Dais said.

Inside, monitors continue checking that doors remain secure and that students and staff are safe throughout the day. Meanwhile, custodians respond to problems as they arise, keeping the building functional while classes are in session. “The day shift is much more customer-service based. We take care of our odds and ends in the morning, but basically, we are here to ensure everything is running smoothly throughout the day without any hitches,” Mr. Reyes said.

In the cafeteria, the morning preparation turns into a steady routine of serving students across lunch waves. Staff monitor food levels, replenish stations, follow food safety procedures and keep the lines moving. “There is a great deal of teamwork happening behind the scenes. Staff must follow food safety protocols, monitor food levels, and make sure enough food is prepared for each lunch wave,” Ms. Santelli said.

The Athletic Department is also coordinating activities that extend beyond the school day. Jessica Huetter, assistant to the athletic director, typically arrives between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and begins by checking emails, processing student health forms and confirming sports buses. She also communicates with coaches, administrators and transportation staff to ensure that practices and games run as planned.

With so many teams sharing facilities and transportation, schedules can quickly become complicated. The Athletic Department must coordinate field availability, referees, buses and backup plans when weather threatens to disrupt games. “In the fall, for example, there are nine programs. When you factor that out across JV and varsity teams, you’re looking at 20 plus teams and around 500 kids,” Ms. Huetter said. “It’s a lot, but we’re doing our best,” she said.

After the Final Bell

When the final bell rings, the building does not empty completely. Students head to practices, rehearsals and clubs, while teachers who coach teams move from the classroom to the field or track. Jeffery Brentson, a science teacher and coach of cross country and indoor or outdoor track, depending on the season, estimates that his schedule can stretch to 12 or 13 hours a day, particularly when his teams have meets.

Rather than feeling like another responsibility added to his day, Coach Brentson believes coaching gives him an opportunity to shift his focus and build relationships with students. “It’s nice to be able to just let things kind of—the regular day kind of slip away,” Coach Brentson said. For him, one of the most rewarding parts of coaching is watching students grow and developing relationships with them over multiple years.

Theater students also begin working almost immediately after dismissal. Cast members and stage managers gather for warmups before rehearsals begin at 3 p.m., usually continuing until 6 p.m. During technical rehearsal week, the schedule can extend until 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. “Student cast members and stage managers are typically on stage by 2:45 p.m. to start warmups that are led by our senior student officers,” theater director Christopher Myers said.

The work continues on weekends, when students build sets, paint, create props and costumes, and prepare the technical elements of each production. Professional designers, student department heads and other staff contribute hours of preparation so students can bring everything together onstage. “While the students work with professional designers, our student department heads mentor and lead other students in creating everything that is seen on stage for every production we do,” Mr. Myers said.

While athletes and theater students continue their activities, Food Services staff begin wrapping up their day. Even after lunch ends, they must wash dishes, sanitize equipment, restock supplies and prepare for the following day. “The work continues after lunch. Staff wash dishes, clean and sanitize food stations and equipment, restock supplies, prepare food and items for the following day, and place food orders to make sure we have what we need for upcoming meals,” Ms. Santelli said.

Staffing shortages can sometimes make that process more difficult. Food Services employees may be sent to other schools in the district to cover absences, which can mean closing a register or food station at the high school. Despite these challenges, the team continues working to serve students and staff across the district.

Meanwhile, the custodial team begins the largest part of its cleaning routine. More than a thousand students, along with staff and visitors, move through the school each day, leaving behind trash, spilled drinks and debris. “If you are here throughout the day, you see the progression of 1,200 kids plus staff and visitors—sometimes 1,500 people total,” Mr. Reyes said.

“The bulk of the actual cleaning is done from 2:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and the night crew takes it the rest of the way,” Mr. Reyes said. By evening, the building is quieter, the cafeteria is cleaner, and classrooms and hallways begin to resemble the spaces students walked into that morning.

Into the Evening

As the evening continues, the night custodians clean their assigned areas while the building remains in use. Drama rehearsals, clubs, school activities and outside organizations bring people into NCHS long after most students have gone home. Because New Canaan does not have a designated community center, the school often serves that purpose for the wider community.

“We are a school by day, but in a lot of ways, we become the community center by night,” Mr. Reyes said. The custodial team makes sure evening groups have what they need and cleans up after they leave, gradually restoring the building for the next morning.

The work is not always visible to students. A clean cafeteria, a functioning classroom, a scheduled bus or a locked door can seem like ordinary parts of the school day, but each depends on people whose responsibilities often begin before students arrive or continue after they leave. The building changes throughout the hours, serving as a school, a workplace, a theater, an athletic center and a community gathering place. Behind it is a continuous system of people working long before the first bell and long after the last.