Ever since the start of the new school year students have been struggling to adapt to online learning, with the school attempting to help to little success. Students have been facing many challenges and frustrations, including listening to Mr. Raaadddd repeat himself every gym class or completing existential warm up chat questions at 8 in the morning. 

While many managed to cope for the first half of the year, the third quarter took a new toll on students. The senior class in particular suffered as they struggled to apply and get admitted to colleges with little in-person support. Freshmen also had to adapt to both online school and the increased workload of highschool. This all culminated in massive numbers of students sobbing during their homeroom Teams meetings. They all collectively forgot to mute themselves so their teachers and fellow classmates were exposed to their dread-filled sobs. 

“It was a shock to find out that the positive warm up chat questions weren’t immediately improving their mental health!” said one teacher. The Allderdice administration seems hopeful that the new counselor will help ease the workload of the other four and allow for more students to get assistance with certain problems they may be facing during online learning. 

No one’s stated exactly when the new counselor will be available to speak with, or what their name or contact info is, but the administration assured the school community that they should be working by the end of May, leaving plenty of time for them to help seniors plan for college admissions, as well as scheduling for the next year with the remaining students.

The school also stated that the new counselor may only be contacted through a certain process—the student would have to contact their homeroom teacher who would then email the current counselors. The current counselors would then have to check with the social workers and lunch ladies, before allowing the students (with their family’s written approval) to meet with the new counselor. This structure of scheduling meetings is supposed to help the counselors all work more efficiently and assist more students.

The new counselor is also supposed to only be available during a specific time of day, on certain days of the week. They assist other schools in the district, as well as Pirates Fans Anonymous and the Allegheny County Jail. Their schedule works on a 11-day cycle, with them coming to Allderdice every 3rd and 9th day. They will also only be available outside of school hours at certain times. On the 3rd day, they are available from the hours of 1:30-2:45am and are available from 3:00-4:00am on the 9th. Students will be expected to organize their own transportation to the school for their meetings, as the counselor will only be available in person. The school hopes that scheduling the hours outside of school will help ensure that students don’t miss class time for meetings.