Do all/most American schools have a PA system?
Posted by Magacks@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 395 comments
Hey everyone, hope your weekend has been good.
Anyway, I see all the time in different shows that all the schools, below college anyway, have a PA system.
Is this true?
Available_Honey_2951@reddit
Always had PA systems in schools I attended and worked at ( 1960’s). Can’t imagine a school without one for safety reasons. Remember before the computer era- morning announcements? By the time I retired that was all done by e mail.
thechurchchick@reddit
Yes
SnooCompliments6210@reddit
Yes. I remember them being used mostly in elementary school. The junior high & high school had them, but the high school "morning announcement" function was taken over by the student TV station. They had a lottle 5-10 monute broadcast where they would tell you the big news, give the school sports reports & the weather. They would also do those announvements. Mid-80s.
QuercusSambucus@reddit
Is it possible this is a vocabulary issue? I think what we call a PA system you'd call a Tannoy. I feel like I've definitely seen British media where they use these in schools.
palishkoto@reddit
I have to say I'm British and I've never seen or heard of a tannoy system in a school! It might appear in films or TV in the same way as schools with lockers or no school uniform, borrowing some kind of American influence from American school films/telly.
Think-Departure-5054@reddit
Wait, where do you store your books and things?!?
palishkoto@reddit
We just carry them in our backpacks! Textbooks generally stay in the classroom of that teacher so they get used with multiple classes, so all you're really carrying are your exercise books, pencil case, lunch, watter bottle and maybe a PE kit in a separate bag. Oh and I suppose an art folder or musical instrument for some kids... maybe it is more than I thought but I never found it a problem, and most people walk or take the public bus to school with no problem.
A classic bit of British parent discipline is forcing you to "pack your bag the night before" because we have different classes most days so you're always deciding what to bring with you and what to leave behind.
everydaywinner2@reddit
The books staying in the classroom would be a big difference. By high school, American students have the books, take the book homes. Get charged at the end of the year if the books are damaged to unusable or are lost.
wittyrepartees@reddit
To be fair- I grew up in a suburband public school and I carried all my books with me every day. I had a locker, and it was WAY too far away for me to get to it between classes. My friends and I stored all our coats in the most convenient locker to the door.
Think-Departure-5054@reddit
Same. In high school I knew a few people who found different lockers near one of their classes to store extra books in for half the day. I had 2 lockers most of high school because my back was killing me trying to carry everything around
Immediate-Fig-3077@reddit
In American and we have lockers at my school but no one uses them. We just put everything in our backpacks
Think-Departure-5054@reddit
At my high school it was not possible to carry all 6 books in our backpacks. I actually took someone else’s locker so I could have 2 (different floors cuz our school was large). A surprising amount of people weren’t using lockers. Must be the kids that had 3 study halls or something lol
Immediate-Fig-3077@reddit
Most people don’t carry their textbooks around. We get one copy to keep at home and use a different copy at school. A lot of textbooks are online now too
Think-Departure-5054@reddit
Wish our school would’ve been like that but no, we got one copy per class and took them back and forth
TrvthReloaded@reddit
Backpack. In my school district growing up. All the high schools and middles got remodeled and they ditched all the lockers aside from the gym ones
Think-Departure-5054@reddit
We had to carry our books around and it gave us bad posture because they’re just so heavy. By the time we got to high school the books didn’t even fit in our backpacks anymore so I for sure was using lockers. I actually had 2 because a surprising amount of people just didn’t use their lockers so I found one on an upper floor that was empty and made it mine.
Glum-System-7422@reddit
every or most schools in the UK have uniforms??
palishkoto@reddit
Yes, the absolute vast majority, whether government or private. The only ones that don't would generally be some kind of free-spirited experimental private school.
Glum-System-7422@reddit
TIL this, thank you!
Ultimate_Driving@reddit
How else would the administration be able to get information to everyone in the building?
Ok-commuter-4400@reddit
Well, how else are we going to jointly swear our political loyalty to a piece of cloth, alert each other to active shooters, and publicly mock that one sophomore with the really tight pants?
bubblesaurus@reddit
Yep.
Would be weird for a school not too
Nearby_Echidna_6268@reddit
Do all schools not have this?
Sirol1913@reddit
Yes. We live behind my daughter’s school and hear every single one. lol
dopefiendeddie@reddit
At this point it would be weirder if a school didn’t have a PA system.
quidpropho@reddit
I'm sure post columbine it's illegal not to have one.
TheBimpo@reddit
We don't really have national mandates for schools. For curriculum or tech or anything else.
Laiko_Kairen@reddit
My mom taught for years. She hated the "No Child Left Behind" thing. I'm sure she'd be shocked to hear about this lack of national mandates.
MamaLlama629@reddit
I write my senior thesis on NCLB and how terrible it was
FormalFriend2200@reddit
Yep. It's pretty much state by state.
ExistentialCrispies@reddit
Schools mandates come from the State governments, not Federal.
Pale_Row1166@reddit
And the state mandates are terrifying
Curt_Uncles@reddit
IDEA would like a word.
FateOfNations@reddit
So for everything except for protected class discrimination, especially for disabilities.
MmmIceCreamSoBAD@reddit
Common core exists, that's about it though. The rest is left up to states and school districts.
jvc1011@reddit
Common Core is an agreement between states.
JoshHuff1332@reddit
They don't have to follow it
quidpropho@reddit
Common core isn't mandatory and most ed states don't use it. Or they do and tweak it and rename it so they don't look complicit in taking orders from DC.
quidpropho@reddit
Yeah, I know, I meant that in like hundreds of regulations, but that's good to clarify for this sub.
Vlish36@reddit
I started high school in Colorado the same year that happened.
Flamecyborg@reddit
I might be in Bizzaro world, but the school (~500 students K-12) I teach at doesn't have one, and I've definitely interviewed in schools that don't.
I'm at a suburban independent school that's decently affluent.
Subvet98@reddit
How new is the school. I wonder if the technology is just irrelevant now.
Flamecyborg@reddit
Just coming up on our Centennial
ms-mariajuana@reddit
Lol that's why
CyndiLouWho89@reddit
Nah. They retrofit. The school I live nearest was built in 1911. It had a PA system in the 1970s when I attended. Still does.
paxrom2@reddit
I design public and independent schools, they all have PA systems. Cell phones don't reach some areas in buildings. PA are systems are wired and reliable.
LiqdPT@reddit
500 students K-12? Are you in a small town? That's the only place I've heard of K-12 schools.
I lived in the suburbs of Vancouver, and my high school (11&12 only) was 1200 students.
Flamecyborg@reddit
Nah, just not a big school. Im like 30 min outside of Philly
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
I never had a PA system, they certainly don’t have one at the school I went to now, and most people I knew who went to similar schools didn’t either. So definitely not as ubiquitous as these comments are making it seem.
FormalFriend2200@reddit
Or do they have one, but it just hasn't worked in years?
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
No they definitely don’t have one. They have way too much money (private school) to let things go unfixed like that. Plus someone was sending me so many comments about this being a lie that I double checked with my sister who went there ten years before I did and she said absolutely not, they never had one and they never would (fancy school, very snobby over aesthetics).
Bluesnow2222@reddit
Even the weird private middle school I went to with 12 students I. The entire 8th grade had a PA system. They made us pledge of allegiance to the American and Christian flag over PA.
profitgirl@reddit
Just curious, what is the Christian flag?
Bluesnow2222@reddit
Big white flag with blue square and cross. There might be others though- but the first one that shows up on Google is the one we had. We also had a separate pledge for it. Afterwards we’d have lots of prayer either in class or in the church or assembly.
Going to a Christian school had a lot of weird quirks not in public school- although public school did have a moment of silence after the pledge of allegiance for students to privately pray at their seats or sit quietly. My French teacher in public highschool taught our very rambunctious class meditative deep breathing and I typically did that during the moment of silence to help with severe anxiety.
FormalFriend2200@reddit
And then there are the nuns who do happy hour after school and pick up dudes.
FormalFriend2200@reddit
Yep. They are needed for school wide announcements and for security communication. Some schools also feed the bells through the PA system.
SheZowRaisedByWolves@reddit
Just a principal yelling down the main hall lol
Local_Sand2932@reddit
Yeah for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a school that didn’t have a PA system.
theguineapigssong@reddit
Every school I attended had one. I think I went to 9 different schools (K-12) and they all had one. I distinctly remember hearing about the Challenger Explosion and the OJ Verdict over the intercom.
pippintook24@reddit
yeah, even the super poor schools where I grew up had them.
Pale_Row1166@reddit
I went to a very expensive private school and we didn’t have a PA system or bells. None of the others in the area did either, it was definitely some sort of status thing, and also college prep thing, since they don’t have either in college either - except for like emergency warning systems. This was pre school shootings though, I’m not sure how they do it now.
ekimsal@reddit
Yup. And when they'd buzz in and go "please send (name) to The Office" all the kids would go "oooooOOOOO0000HHHhhh"
MattWolf96@reddit
Every public school I've been to does
redcoral-s@reddit
We had a PA system that also acted as the bell. One of my favorite elementary school memories was walking with my class to go to art or something and from this completely dark and empty classroom I just hear the intercom lady going "hello? Is anyone there? Hello?" I guess the class was somewhere else and the front office didnt get the memo
Suspicious-Froyo2181@reddit
I was IT support at a large HS and used to buzz in during teacher planning periods and before school to see if they were in the room so I didn't waste a trip.
Constellation-88@reddit
Yes. And it’s used every day for announcements.
Lower_Neck_1432@reddit
Really? Your schools don't have tannoys to make announcements? What do you do, just assemble everyone together?
Ok-Highway-5247@reddit
Yes
IllustriousRanger934@reddit
Never thought about it, but yes. Morning announcements and the pledge of allegiance every morning for 13 years
RoboticTriceratops@reddit
Yeah
John_from_ne_il@reddit
Buildings I went to originally constructed in 1960, 1963, and ca. 1955 all had them. Most included ways to broadcast to all rooms, or call individual rooms over said speakers
KrispyAvocado@reddit
We didn’t have one in one of my schools, but we had phones they could call us on.
SelectionFar8145@reddit
Yes. Our schools are way too big & the main office is usually only staffed by 2-4 people, tops. If the principal needs to tell everyone something, there's no way he's sending runners to every single room in the entire building.
dydeyo@reddit
Every single school I went to had them, so I'd say yeah all if not the large majority.
codenameajax67@reddit
I would find it supremely odd if a school didn't.
tacitjane@reddit
We had them in grade school (90s). Not high school (01-05).
Decent_Cow@reddit
Yeah, every one I've been in before has one.
Nawnp@reddit
Not every school I went to, but most. A school of several hundred students and dozens of classrooms, it's simply the easiest way to reach people.
College level did not, because the campuses are too large and it's just easier to call people, plus the heads of the college don't really interact as much.
letschat66@reddit
Mine did
ByronScottJones@reddit
I went to school in the 1980s. Not only did we have a PA, but we had an internal television station with morning broadcasts and special events.
CH11DW@reddit
Public school, I imagine every one has one. Private school depends on many factors, size, how old the school is and the building they are in. From 4th-8th grade I went to a private school that was 12 kids a grade (only one classroom per grade). I’m not sure when it opened but it was located in a church, so they didn’t own the building to install something like that even if they wanted to. That school only went up to 8th grade. For high school years I went to a larger school, but still tiny. Still 12 in a classroom but there would be two classrooms per grade and had all the grades. I got the impression it was established earlier than the previous school (they weren’t in their original building). They owned the building. But they didn’t have a traditional PA system. Each classroom had a phone with a speaker phone capabilities. So specific classroom could be called or if you knew the code could address every classroom like a PA system. You wouldn’t hear it outside a classroom.
D3moknight@reddit
All schools. Even most colleges still have PA systems for emergency situations. Sudden storms like tornadoes, fire drills, special time-sensitive announcements, etc.
Weak_Employment_5260@reddit
Your 'never really used' is wrong. At least in my time at school it was used routinely. The morning announcements were done with it as well as reminders of holidays and events approaching as well as notifications for early closings for inclement weather, etc.
devilscabinet@reddit
Most do. That was true when I was a child in the 1970s, too. When I was in elementary school the principal usually said something over the PA system a few times a week, at least.
Hypnox88@reddit
From Elementary school up time highschool mine all had systems that would communicate to the whole school or individual rooms. The teachers could hit the call button to contact the office for something.
But it was mostly used for morning announcements and the occasional "please send blah to the office as their parent is here to pick them up early"
Catalina_Eddie@reddit
At my school it was just "Mr XXX to the principal's office". Usually for some shenanigans you were suspected of. Source: I twice got the call. Acquitted twice.
shoresy99@reddit
I am a Canadian who started school in 1970. My schools had PA systems. They were used at the start of every day for news and the national anthem and prayers (at least at Catholic schools). And occasionally for messages from the office to the teacher, etc.
And my elementary school was not very big.
Sam-HobbitOfTheShire@reddit
How would we alert all the classrooms of an active shooter without a PA system?
cbrooks97@reddit
In the 21st century? I can't imagine one not having a PA system. My small rural schools had them in the 1980s.
Magacks@reddit (OP)
It’s just such a foreign concept to us Brits lol, 100% it would just be people using it to shout stupid shit lol.
No doubt that probably happens over there, all kids are the same lmao
la-anah@reddit
Not really. The controls are kept in areas students aren't allowed in.
Magacks@reddit (OP)
Well, you see, you say “aren’t allowed”. But have you seen any videos of British school kids lmao? They would definitely not listen to that shit, and they’d find a way in.🤣🤣🤣
SenseNo635@reddit
Into the principal’s office?
Magacks@reddit (OP)
Yes🤣🤣🤣 just because they aren’t allowed, doesn’t mean they’ll listen lol
OhThrowed@reddit
Are you saying that you can't control your kids and they just run wild?
Catalina_Eddie@reddit
OP is trolling.
Magacks@reddit (OP)
I don’t have any kids, and yes absolutely. If you even just watch a few videos of British school kids, you’ll see how wild they are. They all have a common trait as well.
OhThrowed@reddit
What's that common trait? I'm not gonna go diggin' up videos, so I'm relying on you.
Magacks@reddit (OP)
Melanin. That’s a fact btw, now I’m not saying it’s always that, there are others, but this is very common just.
10RobotGangbang@reddit
Ah shit, here we go!
10RobotGangbang@reddit
Since dude deleted, his comment was about black kids specifically.
Argo505@reddit
Jesus christ buddy.
MaddyKet@reddit
Like they’d just boldly do it right in front of the Principal, looking them in the eye? Because that’s basically what an America kid would have to do to do it without permission. After hours, no one cares to do it because no one is around.
KeyDx7@reddit
If you say so; but kids using the PA system unauthorized really just isn’t a problem here. I certainly never had it happen. In elementary school, it was a large analog switch panel across from the principal’s office. No one would dare. In middle & high school, it was a digital touch screen that was not only near the principal’s office, but also required a PIN to gain access to.
No_Salad_8766@reddit
And people say Americans are bad.
GOTaSMALL1@reddit
I mean… all fairness… we are. But that doesn’t mean Europeans aren’t a fuck ton worse.
AnatidaephobiaAnon@reddit
I couldn't imagine anyone getting to any of the PA systems in any school I was ever in. My elementary school's system was behind a large wooden counter and right next to the office manager's desk which was next to the hallway where the two principals were. Also, the receptionist or office manager were always there. Furthermore, the system was from the 50s when the school was built and had a key that turned it on. The key was only in the pockets of the office staff.
My high school one had theirs in a locked room because our morning announcements were done by video and students were allowed to do the announcements or promote clubs and events. If a student was needed in the office they had runners who would hand deliver messages to the individual classrooms.
Even IF a student got into that room they were most definitely being suspended out of school if caught.
602223@reddit
It’s the juvenile equivalent of an adult taking a cop car for a joyride.
602223@reddit
Every American person here is telling you that kids aren’t hijacking the school PA system. Maybe you should listen? Just a thought.
MaddyKet@reddit
Probably watched too many movies. 😹
emr830@reddit
Then they’d get a detention, probably.
thisisallme@reddit
The “Office” everyone odd talking about is an office filled with secretaries, admin staff, head of school, vice head of school, etc. You would have to either be buzzed into a secure area where you could get your hands on the microphone or pass by multiple school workers in order to do so. You’re acting like Brits will bum rush the office staff just to say nonsense on the PA
nstickels@reddit
Don’t know how things work in Britain, but here, if you pull that shit, you would be guaranteed to get detention for just breaking into the principal’s office, like a suspension if you tried to use the intercom, and expelled if you try to do it multiple times.
SenseNo635@reddit
I assume this is a troll post.
Raddatatta@reddit
Generally you'd have to go by multiple secretaries into the principal's office to access it and they'd have a passcode you have to put in to use it in most cases. So theoretically it might be possible but that's a really tough thing for a kid to pull off and they'd definitely be caught after using it.
MaddyKet@reddit
It wasn’t worth it, so I don’t think anyone ever tried. There were lots of other pranks to pull.
topher929@reddit
The PA is only in the office and students wouldn’t normally be in there. If they were they would be seen by multiple staff including maybe the principal before they could get their hands on the controls.
aidoll@reddit
In the school I work at people can use any school phone to call into the PA system, but only certain people have the code. We’ve never had a problem with students somehow getting the code.
Prometheus_303@reddit
A friend of mine is the theater director for the local HS. She said for the first couple plays she did there she would always have to hunt down a custodian to turn the lights on or off for her at the start and end of rehearsal.
One was extra cautious and made sure she never could see the code as he punched it into the panel. She kept asking for it. She was a paid employee of the school. She said it would be a lot easier if she didn't have to waste 15/20 min every time looking for someone...
She eventually got someone to share the code with her. The ultra secret code... 1234
shelwood46@reddit
I know you believe this, but British kids aren't any more badly behaved than Americans. PA mikes are usually in the principal's office or at least locked in admin. It does occasionally get hijacked, and those kids are punished severely.
quothe_the_maven@reddit
I’m not saying this is a good thing, but a lot of American schools have cops. If you broke into the principals office you would be arrested on the spot.
gangofone978@reddit
Are they just barging into the occupied office, behind the main desk, bowling over the occupants of the offices and into a separate room?
Our PA system was in the a small room in the main office when the secretaries, principal, vice principal, and guidance counselors were. It was never unoccupied and students weren’t in there unless they were 1. already in trouble, 2. had to meet with one of the administrators, or 3. were an office aide (students who were permitted to be in the office and help the secretaries).
ruggergrl13@reddit
I mean have you seen what happens in our schools?!?! We arent really the picture of safety and student decorum
nbrink77@reddit
Yeah and it's a usually big deal to be invited to do the announcements as a student.
IPreferDiamonds@reddit
My boyfriend did the morning announcements in high school because he had a "radio voice".
Ijustreadalot@reddit
In my last school it was in a hallway in the office. It was in view of the principal's secretary if she was sitting at her desk, but it would be entirely possible for a determined student to sneak in through the teacher's lounge and make it to the PA. I'm sure it would have ended promptly, but I don't know because I never heard a student make an unapproved announcement. At the school I was at before that, the PA could be accessed from any campus phone. They also never had a student figure out the code, but occasionally we got interesting office gossip or to listen to whatever was happening in a random classroom when someone dialed the code accidentally.
sneezhousing@reddit
The system is in the office. Kids can't just get to it
oh1hey2who3cares4@reddit
At my school's there was a school wide one so you could here it outside, but also there was a connection that all the phones in each classroom had. So, a speaker phone system that just used a code when they wanted to make an announcement during class time. It was just a phone number and a code.
602223@reddit
The PA system was one way - the school administrators used it to make announcements. There were no microphones where the students could access the system.
emr830@reddit
In our school, you could only access it from the main office. Each classroom and hallway has their own speaker so you can hear announcements, but they don’t give anyone the ability to talk on the loudspeaker.
cool_chrissie@reddit
Do you guys have PA systems in large stores or shopping centers?
Magacks@reddit (OP)
Yes mate
MyUsername2459@reddit
. . .and are kids storming the PA microphones there to be disruptive?
If not, why do you think they'd do it at school but not at a store?
Argo505@reddit
and do people use these to shout "stupid shit"?
BananaMapleIceCream@reddit
You’re not getting into the Principal’s office easily.
TheBimpo@reddit
In my schools, the PA was controlled by the office. You couldn't activate from the classrooms.
Grilled_Cheese10@reddit
I taught elementary school from the late 80s til a couple of years ago, and yes, we still have and use them. They get used less and less as technology has changed, though.
Ages ago there were daily announcements and the Pledge of Allegiance over the PA, but that was replaced with camera/video systems. It also used to be used to immediately contact a teacher or vise versa, but now every room has a phone. It's still used for immediate announcements, like emergencies and drills. We also use it to dismiss groups for all school assemblies, end of day dismissal, and so on.
The_Theodore_88@reddit
Question: Is the Pledge of Allegiance broadcasted to everyone at the same time? I kind of assumed that the teacher got to lead it as long as it was at the start of the day but I can't understand from your comment if that's just a recent thing or if they just changed systems but it's still broadcasted to the entire school, just not over the PA
Derwin0@reddit
At every school that I went to it was.
max_m0use@reddit
In elementary school, we didn't have morning announcements, so each class recited it individually. In middle school, each class recited the pledge immediately after the announcements. In high school, the teacher reading the announcements over the PA recited the pledge at the beginning, and the classes all recited it along with him.
Grilled_Cheese10@reddit
Years ago it was broadcast on the PA and the whole school recited it together, but more recently (at least at my school) it's on a pre-taped student/teacher made video along with daily announcements that each teacher is supposed to show every morning as part of the start up. We did the Pledge M-Th and sang the National Anthem on Fridays. This was as of 2 years ago (I retired), but I believe it's still the same.
devilbunny@reddit
I've been out of school a long time, and honestly don't remember if we did the Pledge of Allegiance in high school (we did in elementary), but if we did it went out over the PA along with the "morning report". "Morning report" wasn't the info sheet that was passed out between first and second class periods that actually had all the major news and events (club meetings, awards/sports victories, which students were recognized as absent, etc.) but a brief list of things that would be relevant to all students - e.g., pep rally or assembly at activity period (dedicated 25-minute time for club meetings and such, assemblies, that kind of thing). If you didn't have anything to do you could do whatever you liked - goof off, finish a piece of homework, go to the library and read, get a snack. I was about evenly split between goofing off and doing homework. Yeah, nerdy if you were doing something that wasn't due that day, but I tried my damnedest to not have to do homework at home, especially when football practice routinely ran past six pm during the season. I didn't want to start on it at 7:30 or 8 (finish at 6-7, go home, shower, eat).
courtnet85@reddit
Most schools in my school district still do the Pledge over the PA system. There have been brief moments where they’ve done video but it’s almost always been PA. The senior class and SGA presidents take turns leading it and reading announcements in the morning at the school where I work.
bothunter@reddit
Haha. That brings back memories. You could call the office by pressing the button on the wall, but the button didn't make a noise in the classroom when you pushed it, and there was a significant delay before someone answered it. So of course we would press it in the middle of class so it would interrupt the teacher.
ConsiderationFew7599@reddit
I still have a call button in my room and we use the PA. My school was built in '95. I've been there for 23 years. They actually updated the PA system last year.
ProfessionalCraft983@reddit
We had them at my schools in the 90s too, both high school and middle school.
11131945@reddit
PA system in my school announced JFK’s assassination at lunch time 1963. Small rural school.
Flamecyborg@reddit
School I teach at doesn't have one, and I've definitely interviewed at schools without them.
In my experience it's not that uncommon, but thats purely anecdotal. The responses here make me feel like I live in a different dimension haha.
WorkerAmbitious2072@reddit
Public school?
Flamecyborg@reddit
Private
WorkerAmbitious2072@reddit
That’s ahy
MyUsername2459@reddit
Yeah, even a small-town rural school in the 1980's. . .that was built decades before, had one.
It would be truly extraordinary to see a public school in the US that doesn't have a PA system.
HairyHorseKnuckles@reddit
Same. There were only 80 kids total in my elementary school and we had one
iolaus79@reddit
80 kids they could have just raised their voice
Designer-Escape6264@reddit
Mine in the 60’s
Derwin0@reddit
Every school that I went to, and my kids went to, had an intercom system.
SemiOldCRPGs@reddit
Absolutely.
klimekam@reddit
Wow finally a “do all American” question in here we can answer with a resounding YES. I never thought I’d see the day. 😂
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
It’s not an all! It’s a most. I never had one, the school I went to still doesn’t have one, and no one I knew growing up ever went to a school with one. Genuinely thought it was made up for tv.
PabloThePabo@reddit
I’m curious how you guys knew when to switch classes? In high school and middle school we knew class was over because the PA system played a noise. Did y’all have real bells?
Catalina_Eddie@reddit
Real bells. K-12.
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
We had real bells in middle school! In high school we just all kept an eye on the clock. No one was going to let us go over. Also, most classes in high school were all on the same floor, so you’d hear other classes being let out. The only time that didn’t apply was if you were in the basement for science.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
This is total bull. Your private manhattan high school didn’t even have bells? And the teachers relied on the students to tell them when class was finished? I hope your parents know that the $20,000/year they spent sending you to this private institution let kids determine when class was over.
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
The teachers determined. But we all had clocks in the classrooms. I don’t know why that’s so offensive to you that everyone was able to keep time.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
Your claim is that in middle school, bells told you when class was over. Once you went to high school, you didn’t even have bells because most people could read a clock? I’m not offended, but I am entertained by your doubling down on an obvious lie. With nothing to gain. It’s ok if you’re homeschooled, you can just say that.
PabloThePabo@reddit
Interesting. My high school teachers, and some middle, wouldn’t let us pack up or stand up until the bell rang. Sometimes they’d keep us after the bell rang. We had to continue working until the noise said we could go.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
You’re lying.
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
No, I’m not. What a weird fucking thing to lie about.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
Agreed. How was home school?
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
I don’t understand why you are harassing me on this. I’m not going to tell you what school I went to. But yeah. There are still schools in this country, especially in older cities like NYC, Boston, and Philly, where the schools are small enough and the buildings old enough that they don’t put in PA systems. I’m 99% sure my school didn’t for the snobby elite aesthetics, but that’s its own thing. I’m not going to apologize for growing up privileged - but I’d appreciate if you stopped spamming me with comments for no reason.
whatdoidonowdamnit@reddit
Your flair says nyc, did you grow up here? All the schools I went to and all my kids’ schools had them. Granted that’s only ten schools in three boroughs but they all had or have them.
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
Yup! Born and raised in Manhattan.
PurpleUnicornLegend@reddit
Hey! I also went to private school in nyc. My school could be described the same way as your school. I understand that because your school was so old they decided not to put in a PA system.
I’m just wondering how non-fire related drills worked at your school if you didn’t have a PA system? Maybe you’re older, so you never had to go through drills like a shooter drill, but if you’re younger, how would people know that something serious was happening and that they should lockdown?
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
Yeah so fire drills were different - the smoke alarms would all go off and there would be this awful noise and all the lights on the alarms would start flashing. So you would know immediately to get up and go. We also had two actual fires while I was there, and same exact deal.
We did NOT have shooter drills, but we did have one “someone is in the school” drill and they used a bell for it, with one teacher ringing and all others locking the doors of their classrooms. I graduated before shooter drills became common - I have no idea what they do now.
I won’t say what school I went to, but we were near an embassy/consulate where the country was embroiled in conflict and we had to do lockdown drills around what would happen if someone attacked them. We did those just like a fire drill but you didn’t evacuate, we all had different basement spots.
whatdoidonowdamnit@reddit
That makes so much sense. All the doe schools I’ve been in have had them, and I’m realizing now I’ve been in a lot of them. I attended three, I went to my sister’s schools for events, my kids have attended five plus another for summer rising and another two for evaluations. Plus my kids are in the chess in the schools program so we go to a lot of doe schools that host the tournaments. The doe schools all have the PA systems. Even the catholic school I went to for Sunday school had one. The PA systems are well used in the public schools here.
TheHazyHeir@reddit
Interesting! Your flair says NYC, but did you grow up somewhere more rural or unconventional? I just can't see why NYC schools wouldn't have them.
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
Nope, born and raised in Manhattan. The person below is correct though - I did go to private school.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
Your parents did you a disservice. I went to a private school in bumblefuck WI with less than 500 kids k-8. They still had a “PA” system.
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
lol. No they didn’t. I got one of the best educations the country has to offer.
machagogo@reddit
They do. And their response protocols specifically address them. OP either wen to a private school if in NYC or somehwere else
https://www.schools.nyc.gov/school-life/safe-schools/emergency-readiness
Previous-Recording18@reddit
I swear I saw a scene with one in Adolescence which is a British miniseries, am I misremembering?
Rare-Satisfaction484@reddit
Some schools in Britain may have them, but its far from normal/common.
DeniLox@reddit
I think that the Pledge of Allegiance was said over the PA.
Rare-Satisfaction484@reddit
I know Americans love the Pledge of Allegiance- but that's so creepy to witness as a non-American. Felt very Orwellian.
Arleare13@reddit
My exposure to British media isn’t that huge, but from what I’ve seen, do you not have them also? You just call them “Tannoys” or something.
Rare-Satisfaction484@reddit
I've not been back to Britain in a while, certainly not stepped foot in a school, but no, most schools do not have them (some might). If there's something you need to know your teacher will announce it at the beginning of class. There never really seemed to be a need for any sort of school-wide announcements.
Rare-Satisfaction484@reddit
What's stranger than the school having a PA system (as a British person) - my kid's schools in the US have a "News Report" that is filmed with a camera and broadcast to all the classrooms each morning.
Not all schools have one of these, but it's not altogether unheard of either.
honorspren000@reddit
Any school building built in the last 20-30 years will have a PA system. Older buildings probably won’t have them.
Amazing_Divide1214@reddit
Yeah, went to half a dozen different public schools and they all had PA systems. Usually used for the morning announcements and pledge of allegiance.
paxrom2@reddit
I work on school design: YES. Most ones in classrooms offer two way communication. They also can be used for a bell system to indicate when start and end of class and end of school day.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
I've been in higher education since I was a student in the 1980s and have never seen a PA system used on any college campus in the US. I've been on a couple of small campuses that actually had "bells" (electronic ones) for class periods and that was pretty weird. Any sort of PA with announcements would be bizarre....and crazy expensive too, since we'd be talking many buildings to wire up.
In K-12, though, they are pretty much universal in my experience. "Morning Announcements" are a thing.
clearly_not_an_alt@reddit
I've never been to a school that didn't have one. In most cases there are daily morning announcements by the principal of some sort, often (at least in younger grades) with a student chosen for the day reading off some of them and then leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
AtomikPhysheStiks@reddit
Building codes mandate PA systems in most large occupied buildings so yes.
Tacoshortage@reddit
I can not envision a school without a P.A. system. They get used multiple times daily. It'd be like omitting bathrooms.
Ok-Trouble7956@reddit
Yes and it's been that way for many decades
TheGruenTransfer@reddit
Yeah, morning announcements over the P.A. are huge in the U.S. Literally every morning for my entire schooling had at least 5 minutes of morning announcements
FaithlessnessLow7672@reddit
Yeah, ours used to get used daily for the "morning announcements" and then also whenever someone needed to come to the office for something.
greenmtnfiddler@reddit
Don't know about now, but in the 70s my elementary school had one. Pledge of Allegiance, announcements, lunch menu, "My Country, 'Tis Of Thee" every morning.
miraculousmarauder@reddit
I would say 99.99% of US schools have some form of a PA system. A small or isolated rural or island school may not but those are very uncommon.
They’re used for announcements (usually in the morning), school wide event logistics, emergency alerts, and usually as the bell system to break up the school day. The office would typically be able to contact specific rooms or the entire school.
womanaroundabouttown@reddit
I’m from NYC - no PA system at my school.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
The same private school that children determined class was over.
tacosandsunscreen@reddit
I went to a very very small rural school that was built in the 50’s and we even had a PA system.
Persistent_Parkie@reddit
I worked in an elementary school with a few hundred students bulit in the 1920s and they had never added one. Every other school in the district had one though. The no PA aspect was actually kind of nice, it was quieter and since there was a phone in every classroom it was still easy to contact the office.
What was less pleasant was no AC in a place that often gets into the 80s or 90s before school lets out. Again every other building in the district had AC.
Detonation@reddit
Now that just sounds like torture! That is my worst nightmare, I've never tolerated heat very well so I can't even imagine that. lol
Persistent_Parkie@reddit
And due to professional dress standards the shortest thing we could wear was capris 😬
We used to take the water sprayer we used to clean the white board and spray the kids and ourselves with it.
Wigberht_Eadweard@reddit
All of my schools had PA’s, but only one out of the 4 schools I was in had it where individual classrooms could be addressed and where classrooms could call the office through the PA. That was also the only one built in the 21st century though.
patty202@reddit
Yes.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
Like a public announcement system? I had these before columbine. How else would we learn about school shooters?
AluminumCansAndYarn@reddit
Every school that I went to had one. The high school would start playing music in the hall one minute before the bell rang. Nothing was more effective to get kids out of the hall and into their classroom like hearing baby by Justin Bieber.
Chewbacca22@reddit
At my elementary school, the building was built in the 60s and had PA speakers in every room. They didn’t work anymore though, and the tornado drill was the principal walking down then hall blowing a whistle.
Middle and high school had PA. HS was the only time it was used for general announcements between classes.
Duque_de_Osuna@reddit
I think so.
Gallahadion@reddit
The public school I went to did, but the private schools I attended did not. Those schools have since been rebuilt, however, so maybe that's changed.
jettech737@reddit
My grade school and high school did, in addition to announcements they played a tone to signify the beginning and end of each class period.
ms-mariajuana@reddit
Same.
Think-Departure-5054@reddit
I finally blocked that out of my mind. Why’d you have to bring it back up 😂
carlosmurphynachos@reddit
Absolutely yes. They are used all the time-to announce fire drills, school dismissal, pledge of alliance every morning…I could go on and on.
harpejjist@reddit
Yes
InevitableRhubarb232@reddit
Yes
UnoriginalInnovation@reddit
My primary/elementary school got one in around 2016
Texas43647@reddit
Yes
No_Possibility_6516@reddit
Back in the '80s, it was used at least every morning.
DuelJ@reddit
Absolutely; at my school they'd often play music beteen classes on fridays.
Though there was a pause in that when pumped up kicks somehow ended up as the first song on the playlist.
nbandqueerren@reddit
Yep. I am more weirded out to hear it's not a common thing elsewhere!
What I don't get though is how so many movies have a PA system easily accessible for kids to cause mayhem with. Like, I've never seen it in any school that I've attended outside main office/administration offices. Or with students monitoring it (maybe that's a thing in more rural communities though?) Even when it was used in classrooms it was used to call people to the main office and you'd have to like shout back at it like an intercom type thing.
bwurtz94@reddit
I have never seen a school without one. Even the old schools. I don’t know how you could run a school without one.
SkiMonkey98@reddit
Some extremely small rural schools here in Alaska don't. Some small private schools also don't. But yeah, that vast majority of schools have a PA and the schools in any American shows you're watching would definitely have one
cactuscoleslaw@reddit
I did the morning announcements over the PA my last year of high school. Half the school thought I was a girl lmao
Riri004@reddit
How else did word get around? Telephone?
ssgtdunno@reddit
How else would the Principal call your home room and make you come to his office?! 🤣🤣 god I’m old
bibliophile222@reddit
I'm trying to figure out how it would work if a school didn't have one. At my school, morning announcements aren't read on the PA, they're on a shared Google doc, but the PA is used for non-fire drills (for instance, clearing the halls for a medical emergency or big behavior issue) and dismissal because it varies based on when the busses arrive. OP, there have got to be occasions where the whole school needs to know something in a timely manner, right? What do UK schools do to communicate urgent announcements?
VacuumsCantSpell@reddit
We had them even in the 80s. I would say yes, but can't speak for the really rural schools.
RemoveMountain89@reddit
I went to catholic schools elementary they college. We did have a PA system of sorts, for elementary and hs we used for announcements mostly. We didn’t have a bell ringing for like each period like you see in the movies. College we did not have anything like that
Staszu13@reddit
High school pretty much. Touch and go on lower grades
yidsinamerica@reddit
Yes, bro it's 2025, of course they do.
MaddyKet@reddit
Send owls 😹
palishkoto@reddit
Basically, yes, lol. Each year group usually has "assembly" in the hall once or twice a week (or sometimes more) when your whole year group comes together for one assembly and then maybe a larger group for the other one. Normally someone senior will give a talk about something, but there'll also be notices and announcements (and also possibly hymns and prayer, "collective worship" being technically a legal requirement but probably largely ignored in the last ten years and much more common in primary [elementary] schools than secondary [middle/high] schools).
For daily notices, we have form group or tutor group once/twice a day, when we gather in what I guess would be like your home room a bit, and the form tutor does the register for legal reasons to check attendance, and normally any notices will be put into the register for the form tutor to read out.
yidsinamerica@reddit
Seems a bit archaic, but if it works for you all, that's greats.
BeaumarchaisApu@reddit
I can’t think of anything that would’ve needed to be announced! What sort of things are announced?
Adjective-Noun123456@reddit
School events and activities that day, or that week if they're something kids might want to prepare or make time for, weather alerts, changes to pick-up/dismissal routines, announcements regarding schedule changes, that sort of stuff.
And since like, the mid-2000s they're all two-way speakers, usually tied back to the school office. So if Timmy needs to tell his mom something, the teacher can get on the PA and tell the desk receptionist to call her and tell her whatever it is, or if Sally is getting picked up, the desk can call the classroom directly via the PA.
graceling@reddit
Love that the edit says : it seems like the PA systems weren't used
... Like what? almost all the comments say it's used regularly or multiple times a day
Ok_Butterscotch_6798@reddit
Yes we use it for announcements and calling down to classes
Important-Trifle-411@reddit
Every school I have been in has one.
So my 6 schools, the 4 schools my children attended, and the 3 schools I substitute taught in all had PA systems.
AvonMustang@reddit
I would actually venture that most larger buildings are going to have a PA system. Schools, businesses, churches, warehouses, stores all have them once they get to a certain size...
Important-Trifle-411@reddit
Probably. But the school I went to for first grade had only three classrooms and it still had a PA.
faithx5@reddit
This is fascinating. The school I teach at (small, private, California) has one and I can’t imagine it not. If you don’t/didn’t have one, how do you do drills/announcements? We use it daily. We also have phones for calling individual classrooms to sign students out etc, but if there’s a school-wide announcement, how else would you do it? Send a runner class to class?
TankDestroyerSarg@reddit
All of my schools from kindergarten through Grade 12/High School Senior did. They had the options for schoolwide or a specific classroom.
Marsupial-Old@reddit
For everybody saying they didn't have one, how did y'all get announcements? We had the pa for school announcements and starting in 6th we had Channel One News for national stuff
Alone_Panda2494@reddit
Every school I went to— and all 9 schools my kids went to all have a PA system that’s used daily for announcements and dismissals.
GoldfishDude@reddit
My highschool was tiny (we had 5 rooms and 4 teachers) and even we had a PA system
Cold-Call-8374@reddit
Every school I was ever in had one and it was used multiple times daily. In the morning we were lead in the pledge of allegiance and a patriotic song. Then the principal would give morning announcements which was things like news and events, accolades for clubs and teams, and the menu for lunch. Sometimes students would be paged to come to the office (usually because their parents had come to pick them up for a doctor appointment or something), and then sometimes there were end of day announcements... usually reminders about sports events. It was also used for emergencies... especially bad weather (we live in tornado country).
LawnJerk@reddit
First couple of grades, I was bussed down town to an older school, had a PA system. Redistricting shifted me to a 10 year old school in my neighborhood, no PA. Went to a different school downtown for sixth grade, old school, no PA. Middle and high school both had PA.
This was the 70s and 80s.
ConsiderationFew7599@reddit
We have announcements every morning over the PA. They will also call individual rooms as needed, such as if a student's parent is there to pick him or her up for an appointment.
Courwes@reddit
Every single one of mine did.
tea-wallah@reddit
Graduated in 81. Every Public school I attended had them and used them
TTHS_Ed@reddit
I work at a small (300 students in 9-12) charter school, and we don't have a PA system, other than the ability to make announcements over all of the classroom phones at once, which we never use.
kbivs@reddit
That's literally a modern version of a PA system. The school I worked in had a phone in each room mounted on the wall. Announcements could be made to the whole school or we could call individual classrooms on "speaker phone." The teacher could pick up the handset if the conversation needed to be private.
We used the school wide version for many reasons besides emergencies or drills. It could be to call up different grades for an assembly so that everyone wasn't coming at once. Or to announce that we were having indoor recess that day due to the weather. And we also had morning announcements every day which included the pledge and any other general info that needed to be shared.
TTHS_Ed@reddit
We don't use it for that, and the time or two that we've tried, the students can't hear it unless they're all crowded around the phone.
8avian6@reddit
Pretty much yeah. It's how schools get their morning announcements and emergency alerts. My middle school had fancy ones where every classroom had a switch to make the loud speaker work two ways so people in the classroom could talk directly to the office.
IJustWantADragon21@reddit
Yes. Daily announcements are very much a thing.
andmewithoutmytowel@reddit
Yes, all of them do, how else are the schools going to warn about an active shooter?
Sorry, I use dark humor to cope (I have two kids in public school) but yes, every school I’ve ever been to has a PA system in each classroom and the hallways.
nbrink77@reddit
Most countries don't have that problem
KeyDx7@reddit
We are well of that, hence op said they use “dark humor to cope”.
andmewithoutmytowel@reddit
Columbine happened my sophomore year, I can’t believe my son is going to be in high school next year, and we still haven’t figured this out.
Tardisgoesfast@reddit
Yes. Ive never been in a school that didnt have one. Interesting.
SirGothamHatt@reddit
My elementary didn't, but the building was built in 1899 & it was small enough the secretary or principal could just walk to the classroom to give messages. I don't think any of the other elementary schools did either. The one that used to be a junior high might've but it was also bigger than a lot of the other school buildings which were all probably built between the 40s & 60s. My middle school was an older building too but it had a PA. And of course the high school did. My hometown built 4 new elementary schools to replace the myriad tiny neighborhood buildings in the early 2000s and those all have PAs.
gemlover@reddit
I went to school in the 60’s a. And 70s and all schools back then had PA systems. My daughter was in school in the 90s and 00s and all her schools had PA systems. Big city, Texas.
Think-Departure-5054@reddit
Yes of course. How else would we do the pledge or get announcements if it wasn’t used?
laurcone@reddit
A common thing that wasnt really used?? Yeah it was. Wasn't that exciting as a high school movie, but it was definitely used during class
AdhesiveSeaMonkey@reddit
Every school I was a student or teacher at had one. It was mostly used for the morning announcements and that's about it.
NewtOk4840@reddit
Yes. I live next door to a high school and hear all the announcements, birthdays,days off, after school activities lol
anneofgraygardens@reddit
i live very close to an elementary school and same.
innocuous4133@reddit
This might be the most interesting question I’ve ever seen on here. I never considered a situation where schools didn’t have one.
Do schools in other places not have PA systems?
Butterbean-queen@reddit
Every school I went to in the 70/80’s had one. Every school my child went to in the 90/00’s had one. Every school I’ve visited recently has one (including the school across the street from me). This is across many decades and three different states.
Sidetracker@reddit
I suspect nowadays cellphones and texting/emails have replaced the old intercom systems. It's all going to depend on the age of the buildings.
PvtDipwad@reddit
Every school I've gone to has a PA system. At the start of our first class we'd have someone go over the PA and lead the Pledge of Allegiance and any school news for the day/week. It is also used for emergencies to let people on campus know if they need to be on lockdown
ThisEnd8239@reddit
Yes
slybonescity@reddit
Likely not every one has been updated to have them but a majority share, I'm sure. It's the quickest way to announce something to the entire school building (e.g. an emergency).
la-anah@reddit
A school PA system is a feature of the movie Grease, which takes place in the 1950s. It would have to be a very old, or extremely small, school not to have one in 2025.
slybonescity@reddit
Not everything that happens in movies is across the board. That's why so many of these questions pop up. Grease was filmed in LA, where I'm sure they had the funding for their schools to update them. I'm talking about very rural areas that are using older buildings with less funding.
ManderBlues@reddit
Every school I attended, but not university.
LadyFoxfire@reddit
Yes, PA systems are very basic technology that are particularly useful for schools.
silveremergency7@reddit
very common where I'm from. We use it for morning announcements
da_chicken@reddit
I work for a K-12. Yes, essentially all schools have a PA system. It is typically the same system that manages (synchronizes) the classroom clocks and the bells used to indicate class changes or dismissal.
Historically they were also used like a phone system, before classroom phones became popular with lower cost PBX and later VOIP phone systems. They could be two-way, and focused to a single classroom. The teacher could page the office or vice-versa.
It's kept now mainly to have something to manage the clocks and as redundancy for the phone systems and in an emergency.
No-Penalty1722@reddit
My schools never had PA systems, but I went to private schools my entire life.
Dull-Geologist-8204@reddit
Yes and the last time I remember it being used was hilarious.
I was in one of the top 10 schools in the country. One of our local politicians decided to tour the school. We were not known for fights. Yeah occasionally a fight would happen but ot wasn't common. The politician and the news crew walked in and suddenly fights were breaking out all over the school. They were doing it to get on the news and get attention.
The next day the principal was so pissed. 😂
He got on the PA system and and we got a good talking to. Some kids got suspension and a few others got detention. To be fair that was the year of the bomb threats where a couple times a week someone would call in a bomb threat and we wpuld go sit outside for awhile. That seemed less bad than the bomb threats. 🤣
trae_curieux@reddit
Every K-12 public school (aka "state school" in the UK) I went to had them: there's at least one speaker in each classroom and then multiple outside, so it's audible campus-wide.
I went to two much-smaller private (aka "public school" in the UK) parochial schools that didn't have PA systems, but one still had an intercom-type phone system that the office could use to ring individual classrooms. The one that didn't have either system had like five classrooms total (Lutheran school built in the mid-century), so having someone walk from the office to each classroom was easy.
At community college and university, there were PA systems, but they were almost never used outside of things like emergency drills.
cerialthriller@reddit
How would a school without a PA system make public announcements? Like fuckin Paul revere?
Bonch_and_Clyde@reddit
I don't think so. I'm pretty sure every school below university had a PA system, and that it was used every day.
Bored_Accountant999@reddit
I went to five different schools as a kid and every single one of them had PA system. I can't imagine them not having one.
They were generally only used in the morning for some sort of announcements or calling someone to the office, but they definitely were there.
newoldm@reddit
I can't imagine why any school anywhere wouldn't have one.
BadgeringMagpie@reddit
The PA systems in my elementary (grades 1-5) and middle (6-8) schools were primarily used for morning announcements and calling students to the front office.
I went to a high school with a state charter and an open layout, so it was only used for announcements and for the rare occasion that the school's director lost his shit on the boys for messing up their bathroom again (like removing the doors from the stalls). Or the time someone smoked pot in there and nearly gave one of the school staff an asthma attack because her office's vent connects to the same air duct.
Sad-Yak6252@reddit
We even had them in the '60s. At one school they played the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and an exercise song called "Chicken Fat" over the intercom every morning and we sang, pledged and exercised right along with them.
PabloThePabo@reddit
I went to poor title 1 schools and all of them had a PA system. Even the school that only had around 100 kids total.
MattinglyDineen@reddit
All the public schools I've worked in all had them while none of the private schools did.
breebop83@reddit
I graduated from high school in 2002 and there was a PA system in all of the schools I attended. By the time I got to middle school (7th grade ~12 years old) most schools also had tvs in each room for things like morning announcements.
The tvs were used for regular announcements and the PA was reserved more for special announcements, emergencies (like fire and tornado drills) and the ‘bell’ that signaled the beginning and end of classes. If I remember correctly there was also an intercom in each room for reaching the office if needed.
gfunkdave@reddit
I got to read the morning announcements on my high school PA for two weeks. Seniors could audition to read the announcements for two weeks. And we got to play a song afterwards during the passing period between classes.
SouthJerseyGirl30@reddit
That's cool! For some reason, my middle school had our morning announcements on TV (we still had a PA system though). There were auditions to do that, but I was too shy to try. When they remodeled the school, they made a studio-like area for it. It was like watching a talk show or the news but with kids lol
melodramacamp@reddit
Every single school I went to had a PA system and it was used daily. They’d read out announcements every morning, at the very least.
nasadowsk@reddit
My elementary school had one. The "old building" had a no longer used one that was like an early telephone system. The regular in use system was a box you'd hit the button under it, it'd ring the main office with a nice bell that went ding!. It was early solid state, and had issues. They replaced it one year, was nice.
The middle and high school had ones like modern phone handsets you picked up. And announcement speakers. The secretary at the middle school said "piano players" instead of "pianists".
Our high school had an impressive electronic organ in the auditorium, and bad acoustics. They screwed up the rebuild of the auditorium, and cut capacity too much. Place still sounded like shit.
brilliantpants@reddit
From kindergarten through high school I attended 5 different schools, and every single one had a PA system. We had school-wide morning announcements every morning, and they were occasionally used for other and like weather-related early dismissal.
ButterFace225@reddit
I'm pretty positive that they're used in most school systems. The Pledge of Allegiance is recited every morning over the PA as well. Announcements, dismissals, club meeting cancellations, sporting events, birthdays, academic awards, weather alerts, bomb threats, drills, and assemblies, theater and musical show times, and etc. were all announced over the intercom.
Out of curiosity, how are announcements done? Also, if there's an emergency or you have early dismissal, how are you notified?
Rogue_Cheeks98@reddit
we had one. They’d use it for morning announcements, class specific announcements, and the “bell” between class, which was actually just music.
They’d give a different kid the aux cord every day to play music to signal the end of class. One kid played “my dick” my mickey avalon. Got suspended
AKA-Pseudonym@reddit
In high school they could even broadcast to TVs in every classroom.
Would have been nice to have in college actually. On 9/11 they a bunch of admin people fanned our across the campus letting everybody know classes were cancelled.
4Q69freak@reddit
My small rural school district had them in every building in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
bseeingu6@reddit
I will offer one small exception: on some of the islands off the coast of Maine, are the country’s last one-room schoolhouses. They probably don’t have a PA system 😂
Hello_Hangnail@reddit
How do they summon the kids without an intercom when they need to be picked up? Just walk all the way to the class?
Bluestarkittycat@reddit
My school did, they used to play a ding dong style bell sound to signify end of class that would play over it. And it was two way so you could press a button and call the front desk and stuff and respond when someone called your room
tacmed85@reddit
I've never seen a school that didn't
SouthJerseyGirl30@reddit
My pre-k to high school buildings all had PA systems (graduated highschool in 2010s). It was used for morning announcements and important messages ex. Notifying a fire drill was going to happen. I'm from a small town, but it was still heavily populated and my high school was giant. We had a lot of smaller townships go to our school. Last time I visited, they remodeled it because it looks like a corporate office building now lol
For my college, my dorm had one too (I'm not sure if all the ones on campus did). I was president of my hall's council, and usually used it to remind people when/where an event was going on that we planned
Subterranean44@reddit
I’m a teacher and we have them. They’re very annoying. Constant interruptions.
SeaLeopard5555@reddit
Yeah I think they do 🤷🏼
Vikingkrautm@reddit
Yes
REALtumbisturdler@reddit
Schools in the US have had PA systems since the 1950s and 60s.
Haruspex12@reddit
My state still has one room schoolhouses, so excepting them as it would be silly, yes all do.
nyyforever2018@reddit
Every school I have ever seen or been in does yes
Terrible-Image9368@reddit
All my schools have intercoms
verminiusrex@reddit
Yes, every school. It was usually used for morning announcements, and to call specific rooms if the office needed to summon someone.
JoeFlood69@reddit
Yes
Bag_of_ambivalence@reddit
Started school in the ‘60s - had a PA system in every school I attended thru high school
Xylene_442@reddit
We had those in the late 1970s and I was in a poor southern US state. Are you wondering if we ever had them or if they STILL have them? I am not sure about not still having them but I cannot imagine why they would not.
IndigoBluePC901@reddit
My old principal abused the hell out of the PA system. Had to apologize if I was on the phone with a parent, they could hear everything clearly. Hell half the neighborhood could hear them, since we had at least one speaker outside.
Qedtanya13@reddit
I teach HS in Texas. All the schools I’ve worked at have had one.
myownfan19@reddit
Yes, it's a two way speaker in each classroom. The front office would use the PA system to make general announcements applicable to everyone, they could also call one classroom specifically to say something to that teacher. These days though I think most use phones in the room to talk to one teacher.
RedSolez@reddit
I've attended and worked in many schools and have yet to find one that didn't.
IPreferDiamonds@reddit
I went to school in the 70s and 80s and we had a PA system. It was used every day. We had morning announcements, usually done by a student who was selected.
thatotterone@reddit
Replying to Edit: ours was used a LOT
multiple times per day
Infamous_Towel_5251@reddit
Our school has a PA system and it's used every morning for school announcements like dance tickets being on sale, a need for volunteers, etc.
abmbulldogs@reddit
I went to school in the 80’s/90’s and all of my schools had them. I’ve been teaching since 1999 and every school I have taught in has also had a PA/intercom system.
WiseQuarter3250@reddit
Only a very small rural or private school, might not have one.
but public schools generally do.
sneezhousing@reddit
Very common
No-Profession422@reddit
Yes. Mine did.
shelwood46@reddit
Every school I went to until college, yes, PA and bells, standard
PlaneLocksmith6714@reddit
Yeah. It’s a school.
phred_666@reddit
I was a students in the 1970s/1980s and taught high school for over 30 years. There was always a PA in the building. I have never been in one without one.
Scribe_WarriorAngel@reddit
Yeah mainly used for the pledge of allegiance, and morning announcements.
It would normally go like.
Please stand for the pledge of allegiance (standing isn’t mandatory)
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
(Example)
Band practice is canceled today.
Bus 165 is running late, please admit students riding this bus without marking them tardy.
Etc.
Every school I’ve been to, and every school I’ve seen has had them
Showdown5618@reddit
Yes, our schools have PA systems. It was a way to get announcements to everyone quickly. Just curious, if a school doesn't have a PA system, how would they get emergency announcements to everyone?
ophaus@reddit
I went to school in the 80s, and daily announcements over the PA were a thing then. Work in a high school now, and the same happens.
punkwalrus@reddit
We had a two-way speaker system in every classroom. In addition, the main panel had a way to pipe in music from audio like music or radio. In high school, we had a radio receiver for a wireless mic set so they could make announcements from the football field (one way only, obviously).
sdvneuro@reddit
My schools did not have a PA system. But I do think most do.
_Smedette_@reddit
I’m in my mid-40s and all the schools I attended had them.
snowy_pink_leopard@reddit
In the 90s in Montana at least three elementary schools, middle school, and two of three high schools in town didn't have a PA system. I was always amazed when I visited other schools (newer built) that had them. At my schools, they read announcements in home room off of a sheet of paper. Admin came to the classroom to pull a student out and escort them back to the office if needed. I also remember when the first computers were installed in schools, the receptionist and librarian were the first people to get them for a year, even before the principal!
Bluemonogi@reddit
My school had a PA system in the 1980’s and 1990’s. It was used at times for school wide announcements. I don’t know if schools currently use them but why not? It seemed efficient enough.
Feikert87@reddit
Yes but we used it more than we do now at the school where I teach. We all have phones and mostly use them to communicate.
auburncub@reddit
I did. K-12 2009-2022. It was sounds for when classes started, ended, and emergencies as well as announcements or check-outs. Oh, and can't forget the school-wide recitation of the national anthem
Dazzling-Trick-1627@reddit
I came here to say YES, but from the other comments apparently that’s not the case. I’m baffled. How did you heat the announcements or know when someone was needed in the office if there was no PA system?
wheelsonhell@reddit
Yes
imthe5thking@reddit
Yep. Your edit that says that a lot of comments saying it commonly wasn’t used is so foreign to me. Ours was used all the time for announcements.
Fun_Inspector_8633@reddit
Every school since probably the mid to the late 80s has had one. I can remember back in elementary school one year that’s what our yearly fundraiser was for. My middle and high school had them. They played a sound at the start and end of each class period. The one in high school was just a tone but the middle school’s sounded like a doorbell.
GetOffMyLawnYaPunk@reddit
My 60 year old HS didn't have a PA. Even my new grade school didn't have a PA system. We usually got announcements in our first period class via paper. During the day, messages were sent via the hall monitors. I don't recall anything that required a quick school-wide announcement. JFK's assassination was told to us in person by our grade school principal.
SnooRadishes7189@reddit
Wow, I went to school buildings as old or older than that in the 80ies/90ies and they were upgraded with PA systems. The one in high school was two way. A teacher could talk to the office via it.
MinimalSix@reddit
My school had 300 kids preschool through 12th grade (4-18 year olds), so it was a really small school, we had one, and announcements at the beginning and end of the week
Famous_Formal_5548@reddit
In the 1980s, I went to a small school that was build and in service in the 1910s. We had a PA system.
unique2alreadytakn@reddit
How else to inform the rest of the school that someone is shooting?
xx-rapunzel-xx@reddit
so how are announcements made in british schools? e-mails and/or print-outs before school starts?
tripmom2000@reddit
I was a school secretary. Kids aren't allowed to just go wherever they want and the PA system was not in a student accessible area. It was a big deal for the lids to be picked to do the announcements in the morning with a staff member. They also said Happy Birthday to any student who had a birthday that day. I know, because I was reaponsible for giving them the information daily! It was done at the start of every day.
noop279@reddit
All but the small schools I went to had them. The two that did not were basically just single building school houses lol not a sprawling campus
Consistent_Damage885@reddit
I have never been in a school that didn't have one.
stevethemathwiz@reddit
Yes, it’s the same technology used for shift bells and announcements in factories. If you take an electronics course, you will encounter clocks and signals that explain how the system works.
kidthorazine@reddit
Every public school I attended had them, a couple of private schools I went to didnt.
gangofone978@reddit
Same. My public school did, but my private school (which was essentially set up like a college campus) didn’t have one.
webbess1@reddit
Yes
No-Conversation1940@reddit
My hometown has never had a stoplight, but it's had a PA system in its school building since at least the mid-80s.
weredragon357@reddit
I’ve never been in one that didn’t
Living_Implement_169@reddit
Yeah. We used it for the pledge and for calls from the “office” in elementary but once we moved up from there they were more like left over decorations from yesteryear
Stickyy_Fingers@reddit
It would be strange to see a school that doesn't have one
OceanPoet87@reddit
Most public schools have a PA. Many private schools don't, but some may. None of my private schools had one.
KittyCubed@reddit
All the schools I’ve been in as a student and teacher have them. It’s how we do things like ring bells for classes, make announcements to the school, do the required pledges (Texas), etc.
Defiant_Ingenuity_55@reddit
The school I work at was the first I can remember that didn’t have one when I first got there. They have one now. We use it daily.
spookyscaryscouticus@reddit
Yes, they use them to do announcements and alerts and do the pledge in the morning. Actually they’re not even unheard of in homes. Quite a few larger homes built during the 1960s and 1970s were built with a whole-house intercom system.
SnooPineapples280@reddit
Yes, it’s true
shammy_dammy@reddit
I went to a lot of schools. Every one of them had a PA
NorthMathematician32@reddit
Aren't you lucky. While I was teaching the one in my room was so loud, I disconnected it. No one noticed for months.
BirdsEverywhere-777@reddit
I went to school in the 80s and 90s and my schools all had PA systems. They were typically used for morning announcements and in occasional other circumstances (special programs or early dismissals).
Writes4Living@reddit
Yes. Heck, most businesses have a PA system.
manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit
For a while my elementary school rented out a second building which wasn't originally built as a school, and it didn't have a PA system. When I went to private school in high school, we didn't have a PA system either.
CroweBird5@reddit
We definitely did. And they used it every morning and throughout the day if they needed it.
Evee862@reddit
My last school had one but to minimize distractions it was never used. My current school it’s used so much it’s fucking annoying
PeorgieT75@reddit
In high school in the 70’s we had morning announcements that I was a contributor to my senior year.
BankManager69420@reddit
Not in my city. Most of our schools were built in the early 1900s so PAs weren’t a thing. Even the ones that have been remodeled omitted them just to save money for more important things.
After-Willingness271@reddit
Largely yes. Used daily in my high school. Used relatively rarely at the lower grades
Rhubarb_and_bouys@reddit
In my experience in Massachusetts, every school has one. My school was about 125 years old but still has one.
lucytiger@reddit
We had them in all my schools K-12. It was used for morning and afternoon announcements to the whole school and to page individual classrooms as needed. For example, if a student was going to be picked up early for a dentist appointment, the main office would use the intercom system to ask the teacher to dismiss that student when their parent arrived.
latin220@reddit
Yeah I would hope that’s how we got morning announcements and were told what was going to happen for the day.
jgoolz@reddit
I teach 8th grade and our school uses the PA system constantly, it’s so annoying.
EloquentRacer92@reddit
My school has a PA system, announcements are made along with a sound to signify the beginning and end of class periods.
flootytootybri@reddit
All the schools I went to (public and one private) had them yeah. They’re not used as much as they were when I started school because the teachers eventually got phones within their rooms as well so they’d just call to the specific classroom if they needed a student that was in class or that sort of thing.
Vachic09@reddit
Most do as far as I am aware.
Icy-Role2321@reddit
Even my high school in a town of 1000 people had one.
TeacupCollector2011@reddit
I would think so, although they aren't used as much as they used to be in my experience (worked in schools for 30 years).
LSATMaven@reddit
I was in school in the 80s and 90s and definitely had the impression it was universal.
Standard-Outcome9881@reddit
Back in the 1980s and 1990s for both my elementary and high schools we had PA speakers in the classrooms, usually used for announcements and for the change of period bells.
AbbyNem@reddit
Every school I've ever attended, visited, or worked at did. It's pretty much ubiquitous AFAIK.
Uhhyt231@reddit
I assume so. I feel like depending on the school depends on how often it’s used
pfmason@reddit
Only home schoolers don’t have one.
Roadshell@reddit
I haven't taken a PA census or anything, but pretty much, yeah.
khak_attack@reddit
Mine technically had one, but it was not used.