You walk into your classroom, and it is so hot that you could have walked in with a T-shirt and shorts and would still have been sweating. It is uncomfortable, distracting, and the entire class, including the teacher is complaining about it. You feel relief when the bell rings and go to your next class which happens to be on the other side of school. You walk in, and it is freezing. Again, you are uncomfortable, distracted, and now you can barely move because you are in your coat, hat, and gloves. This is what various classrooms are like on cold winter days.

When the building was constructed in 1902, the builders had not planned for the school to expand. The heating system is based partially on a series of valves. The school’s pneumatic valves circulate pressurized air.  Because the school has expanded, by the time the air reaches the new areas there is very little pressure so they are not heated well.  Meanwhile, the main building, with the original valves, is overheated. “These (Curtis) valves were put in 1901, so some of them have rotted into the wall and the temperature can’t be adjusted,” said Daniel Donnelly, the Custodian Foreman.

The newest building is the cafeteria wing, which includes the nursing wing and the fourth floor rooms 401-409 which was built in 1964 and does not have any pneumatic valves. This explains why this wing is the coldest place in the building. The pressure from the original valves cannot push enough  heat to heat these classrooms. Meanwhile, the buildings above the lobby and auditorium are extra  hot because they are centrally located above the valves. While the valves are working, they can not be regulated.

“I walk into history class and I can only focus on the fact that it is 20 degrees outside, but I could be wearing shorts in class,” said Dominick Ricci, a junior that has history in room 313.

Rooms such as 313 and 322 are hot while rooms such as 204 are cold. In room 322, the journalism room, the heaters always make the room so hot that the door has to remain open and Ms. Turner usually has an air conditioner running.  In 313, a history and law room, the screen projector overheated from overuse and it became a joke that it was from the heat. “I’m always cold, so I don’t mind the heat too much,” said Mrs. Beresford, who teaches history first, third, sixth, and eighth  period in the sweltering room.

One of the most sporadic classrooms in Curtis is room 334. Some days the room is frigid while other days it is sultry. One day, when Ms. Urban-Rahn came in to prepare for her second period class, the entire room was filled with steam. Everything was wet and stuck to the walls. The day before the room steamed up, 334 had no heat the custodians either loosened the heaters too much or the radiator cracked and the steam enveloped the room,” said Urban-Rahn. Donnelly, said that it was a freak accident and that it has never happened before.

When all hope seems lost for the climate control in Curtis, Donnelly said, “Once Curtis has the funding, there will be a heating plant upgrade.” A time has not been set as to when this upgrade will happen.”  Until then  one can only suffer through the climate problems and it is just one more reason