In her ground-breaking efforts to restyle—and re-tile—the school, Principal Emily Bonilla had the carpets removed from Communications High School (CHS) during the summer. This decision has left some students floored.

Freshmen customarily do not eat in the cafeteria; instead, they eat lunch on the ground in their locker pods, alongside students in other grade level. This makes the decision to remove the carpets controversial among all grades.

Junior Kamila Lopez of Long Branch expresses her concern that the tiled floor will be less comfortable than the carpets, which could unravel the tradition of freshmen not eating in the cafeteria. She also adds that she does not find the new tiles visually appealing.

“The CHS freshmen are supposed to sit on the floors in the locker pods, but now it’ll be too cold most likely,” Lopez said. “I really want the carpets back!” Lopez said.

The carpet was removed largely for sanitary reasons. Bonilla ensures that her higher-ups ultimately made this decision—she points out that she was not even permitted to choose the color of the tiles—but that she was working to ensure that notable CHS customs would not be lost.

She also says out that the decision to put in tiles was overwhelmingly supported by staff, as many of them find the unsanitary conditions of  the carpet a greater issue than most students.

“We do have a culture of relaxing and chilling out, so we’re getting cushions,” Bonilla said.

She explains that she plans to implement floor pillows and storage throughout the school and to furnish most open spaces in hallways. One of her first goals for furnishing is to remove the couches from the senior hallway and put them on the second floor to cooperate with fire codes, and to replace the couches with benches.

Another major concern is that the new floors detract from the personality of the school.

While Senior Phineaus Whedon of Wall Township acknowledges that removing the carpets was a decision for the greater good, he mourns the loss of a CHS staple.

“We’re going to need a lot of pops of color so that we look like what we are—an arts school,” Whedon said.

Junior Shawn Retta of Keansburg adds that the replacement detracted from the “home-like feel of CHS.”

While this change was not her decision, she hopes to utilize it as part of her broader objective: rebranding the school in a way that is more fitting of her own vision, as well as—she emphasizes—the visions of students and staff. Bonilla does not identify the dullness as a result of the new floors, instead implying that the darker floors simply revealed an underlying problem.

“We have a great community here, and the kids love being here, but the building should also reflect the community that is here, I feel like it’s very dull. And I do think it’s not going to be the reason why people go here, but I think it will be helpful, as a selling point.”

Bonilla details her other plans to revamp the interior of the school, including painting the brick wall at the entrance white to brighten the front hall, investing in a better stage and audio system for events and figuring out a way to institute temporary murals and higher-quality art displays in halls.

These redesign goals go outside of the walls of CHS, with plans to modernize the branding of the school. Bonilla said that she first hoped to do a lot with the logo of the school, adding that while initial impressions of the new logo were mixed, it seemed to grow on people once they realized the concept behind it.

The logo includes seven different colors that form the shape of a camera shutter. She explains that each color in the logo will correspond to a different field of communications, and the items within each department, like classroom doors and soon-to-be pieces of furniture, will be color-coded accordingly.

To further accomplish her goal in modernizing the school, Bonilla renamed several theme classes, updating courses like
“Communications Technology” to “Adobe Foundations.” These more accurately depict what students accomplish in these classes, as many of them have evolved significantly since their conception.

Despite his misgivings regarding the floor changes, Rhetta aims to stay positive and encourages his peers to withhold judgement.

“You can’t judge anything till you see how it plays out,” Rhetta said. “If you go into something with a bad attitude, only bad things are going to come from it.”