WOODBURY — In recent years, the morning rush has always posed problems for students at Nonnewaug. Many struggle with tardies and the detentions attached for students who arrive late to school. Everyone has their reasons, and sometimes it’s just hard to be on time. However, the daily traffic jams that bottleneck Minortown Road and Middle Road Turnpike don’t make it any easier.
Enter 7:15 — and the bottleneck gets even worse.
“I think morning traffic is really annoying, it could be managed easily,” said Zayne Brewster, a senior at Nonnewaug, who has been driving to campus since 2024. “A lot of people come in the same entrance, students, drop offs, teachers, etc.”
The confusion of the morning has Nonnewaug senior Gavin Sandor aggravated.
“People don’t know how to drive in the morning, and it makes me late,” said Sandor, who often tries to get to campus before the campus gets congested. “They don’t understand the system, the unspoken rule of turning in. The administration needs to give leeway for tardies, a grace period. I don’t think the repercussions are fair, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”
The strict tardy penalty is the punishment for a lateness that is sometimes unavoidable. As previously reported by the Chief Advocate, tardies result in punitive punishment. To combat this, students have to follow more demanding and rigorous schedules that are an issue for some.
“If I don’t get here 15 minutes early, I’m late to class because there is so much traffic going into the parking lot,” said senior Spencer Maletzke.
According to senior Alex Tracy, “If you show up past 7:10 or 7:15 then you’re in trouble.”
These students are able to push through the demands of waking up early and beating the traffic, but for others it’s more difficult.
“It’s difficult for me to wake up in the morning, and the traffic doesn’t help,” said senior Matthew Shupenis, who has a Period 1 class that begins promptly at 7:25.
On the other hand, even for the most prepared students, the traffic can create variability which makes the morning commute that much more tedious.
“Sometimes I’m going to school and I think I’m going to be on time,” said senior Jonathan Eschmann. “Then out of nowhere, I hit traffic and I’m late.”
Traffic has an impact on the status of attendance, which is something upon which administration has placed great importance. With traffic being controllable, there’s a concern among students that there needs to be more of an effort to curb the issue.
“As far as solutions go, the parent pickup is the problem,” said Brewster. “They’re making them drive all the way to the back. Dropping off in the front could allow them to leave quicker. There just needs to be more direction.”
Administration has attempted to alleviate campus congestion by allowing student drop-offs as early as 6:50, and students can work in the cafeteria before the bell while accompanied by the NHS staff.
“I think any time you make the window of when you can arrive greater, then you can fit more people in,” said interim assistant principal Suzi Greene. “I do think that by nature we have some procrastinators and more kids tend to come right at 7:10. You just have to get here. Even as an adult, I know when I have to get in, but sometimes I’m a little bit late. It happens to the best of us.”
However, as traffic mounts, so too does student frustration.
“I think it’s annoying,” said Brewster. “It needs to be fixed.”
