Students who used to sprint down the front hall to get a late pass in the morning must now walk directly into the main office to access the new attendance office, which staff members moved over the summer to vacate space for the guidance department.

Guidance counselor Molly McAllister, a part-time counselor this year, relocated into the former attendance office to make room for Jamie Ahearn, who worked as a part-time counselor last year in a main office room. Ahearn moved into the newly vacated office in the guidance department so the staff could stay together.

Although this involved several office changes and shifting three staff members, the relocation was not time-consuming, McAllister said.

The move will hopefully simplify guidance office operations, administrators and staff said.

“It makes more sense to have guidance all together,” assistant principal Jennifer Webster said.

McAllister also appreciates the new close proximity of her colleagues. The full guidance staff is now located together in the guidance office.

“I think it’s a much better location than when [Ahearn] was working in the main office,” she said. “I feel like I’m working with the whole counseling staff now.”

Ahearn, who now works in McAllister’s old office, agrees that working in the central guidance office makes her job less complicated.

“Students know to come to the guidance office for an appointment, so when I worked across the hall it was confusing for some students,” she said. “It makes sense for us all to be together now.”

MCPS building services will soon close up the now covered windows of the former attendance office to blend in with the rest of the main hallway wall and install a similar set of windows in the new attendance office. These modifications will likely finish after Sept. 15.