As the afternoon sun streams through South High’s window-lined walls, the halls become painted in golden light. Cast on the floor are long, beaming shadows that students step over to reach the main entrance. The final round of yellow buses rumbling away, paired with the bell beeping softly, marks the end of a day at South High.
While the end of classes suggests a winding down for South High, a culture of learning and camaraderie reveals itself through clubs, sports, and practices. A fresh wave of activities reveals itself through the many possibilities after-school life offers.
2:33 p.m.: Walking into the science hall, a feeling of pressure and academic rigor remains apparent, even palpable, through its walls. Yet laughter and light-hearted conversation still reverberate in the rooms. Jason Zhang, a junior and Science Olympiad member, credits his and the rest of the team’s success to the “engaged and focused atmosphere” that continues after school: “Seeing other people preparing for their events is motivating and being in that environment of progress and improvement is also very helpful.” The hours they dedicated to researching, planning, and building have resulted in victory in the 2024 Yale University competition. After wrapping their work—and their win—the Science Olympiad team departs to catch the first late buses.
4:00 p.m.: “Four o’clock bus! Everybody get ready for the four o’clock bus!” Fritz says from the front desk of the South High lobby. He recites his daily bus reminders—the same routine for the past 20 years—until the last bus leaves the campus. With a majority of students gone, Fritz’s face adopts a calmer, more tranquil look that reflects the school’s new atmosphere: “The later it gets, the fewer kids are here, which is better for me because it’s easier to control the school.”
Though Fritz adopts a cool and stoic persona, the environment surrounding him is unpredictable, and at times, chaotic. A group of students approach Fritz to show him a funny video on their phones. Janitors come in and out of conversation with him. A panicked student runs around the front entrance, looking for their food delivery. It is this aspect of South High’s after-school environment that keeps him on his feet throughout his 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. shift. He says, “This school is always busy—we have people coming for sports, we have people coming to attend meetings, and we have you guys, the students.”
5:20 p.m.: Despite the distinctiveness of Fritz’s voice, he is only faintly heard from the outdoor tennis courts. His calls for the 5:20 p.m. bus are overpowered by South High’s Varsity Girls Tennis Team, whose training is filled with twacks of rackets hitting neon balls. Ivy Zhang, a junior and player, attributes their close-knit dynamic to their after-school sessions, saying, “It’s a different environment. You definitely have more interactions because you’re training together for such a long time, whereas in a class, it’s just for forty minutes.” As students and coaches alike train to strengthen their weaknesses, they naturally hold conversations they otherwise would not have during the school day: “I feel like during practice, we talk a lot more. The intimacy contributes to the building of teamwork.”
6:30 p.m.: Inside the main building, rehearsals are in full swing as Theater South swarms the auditorium stage. Actors and crew similarly find friendship as they prepare for the upcoming musical. Sneha Varghese, a junior in stage crew, runs to ensure the curtains, props, and markers are accounted for. “Staying after school is hectic but fun at the same time,” she said. “Most days we end at eight and close at nine. Sometimes we don’t even know when it’s night because we’re so focused on the show.” Other crew members bustle to wheel heavy sets—a task that requires two to three people to accomplish. Actors in full costume take their places, breathing deeply for their first number, as their peers cheer them on.
9:00 p.m.: The last steps echo in the hallway as the day’s dust settles. Moonlight peeks through the blinds, shining off empty desks and clean boards, brightening the school despite the hour. Twenty-four-hour security, in addition to night-shift custodians, linger inside the building to ensure the next day begins just as it ended: safely, smoothly, and successfully. Even after dark, South High is kept alive.
