New students aren't the only ones lost on first day at NFA

Norwich - Veteran teachers and administrators with decades of experience at Norwich Free Academy got a fresh understanding of what it's like for students on their first day in a new school Wednesday.

Every classroom and office in every building on the sprawling high school campus has a new number as part of a new identification code designed to improve safety and emergency response.

"I don't know where I am," Director of Student Affairs John Iovino said standing outside his office inside the Tirrell Building, now designated as Building 7, making the first digit of his room number 7.

Iovino's room is on the first floor, so the next digit is 1, and the room number now is 12, making his office room 7112. Odd numbers are on one side of the hall, even numbers run along the opposite side, similar to hotels. Each room has a placard outside the door that includes Braille numbers.

Interim Superintendent Jacqueline Sullivan spent the morning roaming the hallways and sidewalks helping students find their way to their classrooms. A 36-year veteran teacher and administrator at NFA, Sullivan knew every room number on the campus, until Wednesday.

"Everyone is starting from scratch," she said.

Complicating campus directions is the construction of the new $7.7 million atrium at Slater Museum in the center of campus. Construction will be going on during school hours, but Sullivan said work crews from G. Schnip Construction have been very accommodating. During class change times, equipment will move from the front walkway and construction gates will open to allow students to pass. Workers know they have six minutes during these times to do any loud drilling or pounding. Then the gates close.

If students need to cross campus during class time, they must go behind the buildings along the athletic field.

More than the numbering system and construction have changed this year at NFA. Students are starting to get used to a stricter dress code that forbids short shorts and skirts, mandates that pants be worn at the waist and bans all but plain colored T-shirts. Teachers carried red warning cards Wednesday to issue students who violated the code. Future violations will be enforced, possibly with students being asked to call someone to bring a change of clothes.

Sullivan said "skirts and shorts seem to be the issue" on this opening day, when temperatures were expected to reach the low 90s. One student in the Tirrell hallway asked a teacher if her skirt was OK. No, it was too short, with the hem resting a few inches above the knee.

Asked for their opinion on the dress code, a room full of students in the Project Outreach program gave it thumbs down, but most complied. Several students said it takes them longer to get ready for school, searching their closets for something that doesn't violate the dress code.

Tenth grader Connor McMahon of Norwich and senior Jake Snyder of Canterbury said NFA should just go to school uniforms "if it's going to be this structured," McMahon said.

c.bessette@theday.com