Chloe Yokitis

Staff Writer

Alexandria City High School — students and staff alike have been facing problems connecting to the school WiFi this year. With two months of school already completed, some think that these WiFi problems have gone on too long. 

“[In] some classes, [the WiFi is] good and works normal. Other classes, it’s really, really slow. Other classes, it doesn’t exist,” said senior Robert Williams.

“The third floor is the worst,” sophomore Audrey Norman said. “Second floor too. Really, the whole school.” 

“I’ve only been in this building a few years, but in general, the internet has been pretty good throughout the years,” said Dr. Dennis Burstein, a Driver’s Education and Gym teacher. “For whatever reason, this year seems to be as worse than it’s ever been.”

Some students say that when they can’t access WiFi during class time, they must complete their classwork at home.

“In history class, our warm-up is on Canvas, and if we don’t get to do that, then we have to do it for homework,” sophomore Zacharia Stover said. “It affects the amount of homework that we do and the amount of work that we do in class.”

“We seem to have really bad luck with WiFi glitching while we’re in the middle of tests, so a lot of students can’t take tests and have to re-take them on their own time,” said Norman. 

For teachers, like Burstein, the WiFi has also proved to be a hindrance. 

“In my classes, it’s been a struggle all year,” Burstein said. “There’s probably not a single day where it’s been smooth throughout the day.”

“I teach computer science, so not having wifi is very difficult,” said Ms. Gretchen Wagner.

With the first quarter already completed, students and teachers are wondering if there is an end in sight to these problems.

 “Going out in the hallway is everyone’s solution, but it doesn’t actually do anything,” sophomore Sarah McBurney said. “Like, you go in the hallway but you don’t get WiFi there either, so we basically don’t have a solution.”

“I think the school is trying to address the issue, but, you know, it’s already past mid-October,” Burstein said, referring to a statement that school officials had made saying in the beginning of October that they would fix WiFi problems by the end of the month. 

“I’m sure there’s a reason why [the school isn’t able to solve the WiFi problem], like there’s probably a funding problem or something like that,” said senior Nathan Cutting. 

The school’s technology department says it is doing its best to solve this problem.

“The helpdesk and network team are working on this issue around the clock, even if you do not physically see them in the building,” read a statement from the school administrators to teachers sent at the beginning of October. “We desperately want this issue resolved for you so that you can do your work without interruption.”

Weeks later, at the end of October, students began to notice a new student WiFi network— ACSTWN.

Mr. John Crites, the ACPS Director of IT Infrastructure and Support Services, said, “We have already begun the creation and testing of a solution to provide better service in the building.”

Many students and teachers are thankful that the school is visibly taking measures to solve the issues, but some are more reluctant.

“The new network that replaces the old one does seem to work,” said Williams. “So that is positive, but still doesn’t fix the issues.”

Photo by Chloe Yokitis