This morning, Coppell High School welcomed sophomores, juniors and seniors back to the newly painted red and black hallways.

This school year, the halls of CHS are going to witness more change than just paint. New developments include new security vestibules in the main entrance, an adjusted block schedule and no freshmen, as they are all at the CHS9 campus, located at the former Coppell Middle School West building.

“I really like the [revised] block schedule, I really do think it gives us more time to learn and get more work done,” CHS sophomore Mackenzie Carreon said.

In light of the events earlier this year, such as the Parkland, Fla. school shooting, Coppell ISD has started to take more precautions, such as increasing checks for student ID lanyards.

“When [the IDs] first got introduced, I thought it was useless, but with recent events, I hope that this can make us a lot safer,” CHS junior Stacey Hong said.

After entering by checking through the vestibule, CHS students go throughout their day on the block schedule, which is also a change for the 2018-19 year. While last year’s students had the opportunity to use the modified block schedule, this year is the first time the full block schedule is implemented. While last year’s schedule had first and eighth period everyday, this year’s schedule has no classes repeated, except for students taking double-blocked classes.

Lastly, this CHS school year is the first to witness no freshmen on campus, to relieve overcrowding.

“I have taught freshmen every year that I’ve been here, so I miss that, but it’ll be really good because our numbers will be hopefully smaller and the hallways will be not as crowded as last year and it will be more a tight-knit community,” CHS IB English teacher Stephanie Ball said.  

Whether these changes will bring positive or negative effects to the campus this year remains to be seen.