After opening its doors in 1958 and pursuing multiple extensions and renovations, NC’s hallways appear as nothing short of a fever dream. With hallways that connect to nothing and a numbering system that leaves freshmen with a migraine and a pout of defeat, the school bewilders all who enter the hallowed halls.
First of all, the deal building, this obnoxiously large monolith-esque building, holds the various fine arts classes available at NC. This building uses the 3000s for its room numbers, and the upstairs, commonly referred to as the “Math Hall”, sits in one large circle. Since this building uses 3000 as its base number, of course, NC also sports a 2000s building: the Freshman Academy. Yet, the 1000s hall exists only in the imagination. Why exactly NC does not sport a 1000s hall and instead skips straight to 2000 remains up for debate, though a number of students speculate on poor planning.
“It is really frustrating, the halls, I mean. It’s super confusing for freshmen; we don’t have a 1000s hall. The 300s are on the complete opposite side of the school from the 200s and when substitutes come to work, they have to ask the students. They’re supposed to renovate again after the class of ’27 graduates, thank goodness,” junior Duaa Chisti said.
One detail that does hold a logical foundation, the 100s hall. This hall, intuitively located in front of the building, provides a home to lesser-known classrooms. Two suspiciously locked doors appear as the only key marker of the area, and not a single NC student mentions attending classes there. The strangeness continues with the connections of the hall.
Directly connected to the 100s hall stands the 200s, a refreshingly obvious design choice for the overall atrociously put-together building. This hall houses the JROTC homeroom and magnet-specific classrooms. The hall itself appears abruptly short and, to the visitor’s dismay, does not connect to the 300s. Rather, the 200s end where the 400s begin. The 400s, while widely rumored not to exist, actually houses the heart of the school itself, NC’s media center, located in the center of campus. Yet, the only other rooms on the hall find use solely from faculty and staff, the student body holds no knowledge of the room’s contents. This means, essentially, the media center alone creates the 400s hall, because why allow students to easily find their way around?
Following chronological order, unlike the NC campus, the 500s hall. This hallway holds the ISS classroom, a portion of the building gracefully tucked out of sight between the 200s and 400s. Nothing interesting back there, best to move on. NC’s 600s hall connects with the 300s and the 700s on either side. The 600s houses literature and the occasional straggler science. The 700s, affectionately known as the upstairs 600s, hold science and foreign language classes, with its own literature classes here and there. While the entire layout stands to benefit from the swap of the straggling literature in the 700s and the science in the 600s, it appears the teachers in each class have already created their nests and scarcely want to move.
Of course, the 800s hall must connect to the 700s, a highly logical placement. Alas, the 800s hall stands remarkably alone. While encased by the 200s and 600s on either side, the hallway stands entirely isolated from its neighbors. This hall houses various CTAE classes and holds zero recognition from the average NC student. Likely, any student who lacks a CTAE track will never step foot in this hallway.
“The hallways are crowded, they stink, and when I go outside to get to my class, it smells like raw sewage. On top of that, all these people need to stop walking side by side; I can’t get by. The hallway numbers don’t make any sense either, don’t get me started,” junior Grier Coats said.
Ultimately, the NC halls mirror the inner turmoil NC’s students feel at the prospect of returning to the school each year. After 67 years and multiple renovations, one may think that NC could create a simpler numbering system for its halls. Yet, time and time again, students find themselves turned around and hoping they find their way to class in the six minutes of transition time between classes. Seniors find themselves wondering if, perhaps, the halls will gain new labels after their departure; alas, this outcome appears scarcely likely. So, each year, freshmen cross their fingers and hope for the best. Perhaps next year the school will provide less of a headache.
