The sound of the bell reverberates throughout the empty hallway, and students begin to file out of their classrooms and make their way to their next class. But this is no easy feat in the hallways of Texas High. Small crowds of people standing in the middle of the hallway and slow walking culprits make the hallway a veritable obstacle course. With an outdoor campus, slow moving traffic causes a brutally cold transition from class to class.

However, over the holiday break, the bushes in the courtyard were removed. This space is now completely open for students to walk through.

“The courtyard was becoming a safety issue with the raised planters,” Principal Brad Bailey said. “We have increased the amount of people visiting in this area which was causing traffic issues in the hallway. Also, the trees in the planters were old and damaged causing structural issues.”

Students quickly noticed the small change to the school because the space looked bigger and much more barren than before.

“I never really hang out in the courtyard, but all the concrete is ugly,” sophomore Anna Kate Jordan said. “If they could just add in some trees or grass that didn’t get in student’s way it would look much nicer.”

Other students who have to pass through the courtyard on a daily basis are grateful for the extra space to pass through. They no longer have to push and shove just to be able to get to their next class on time.

“The courtyard area was really crowded between bells before the bushes were removed,” junior Ryan Hall said. “I’m so glad they are gone. It is so much easier to get through now.”

This removal of the bushes is not the only method the administration has used to lessen traffic in the hallways. They are constantly looking at ways to improve the campus.

“We took out the lockers in the main hallway over the summer and this helped tremendously,” Bailey said. “We are looking at removing the bushes in the green space near the main hallway and extending this area by adding a pass through with steps to the courtyard. We would then come in and landscape the area.”

The successfulness of the bush removal has showed promising results for future plans to improve the school.
“We will continue to monitor and make decisions that will increase the efficiency of traffic flow,” Bailey said. “We also want to ensure the aesthetics and traditional structure of our campus are well kept to please everybody.”