School districts across the Delaware Valley, including the School District of Philadelphia, announced early dismissals for students Tuesday due to the heat and humidity.
“I grew up without air, went to school without air, but you get used to it,” she said during an interview in one of the school’s first-floor centrally cooled offices. The portion of the building, fitted with central air conditioning when it was constructed, was added to the school about 30 years ago.
Teachers have relied on opening windows to keep their A/C-free classrooms cool.
“Can you really learn when you re hot? You can t think straight, you re distracted,” Maddaloni said. “(The students) do well, but it s not something that is the best way to learn.”
Studies have shown that students’ ability to focus on learning is impacted while sitting in classrooms that are uncomfortably warm.