You’ve probably been to the bathroom before, to either use your phone, skip class, or actually use it. But last year and this year, many female students and teachers at RIS noticed strange piano music randomly playing in the girl’s third-floor bathroom. 

     The odd music took many by surprise because they had no idea how or why this was happening. By now, some students have learned to ignore the music, but others are still startled whenever they hear it. Most of them have the same question:  what is this music?

     In a poll where students were asked if they’d heard the music, 85% of female students had heard the music, while 15% didn’t know anything. Although a lot of students were aware of the odd music, not as many teachers seemed to know about it. Secretaries in the front office and Mrs. Lynn all said that they had no idea that this was happening. 

     Some of the students who have heard the music have some theories about it.  

     Allison Kraus, 8th grade, said, “I think it’s coming from a speaker in the ceiling. It’s so weird.” 

     7th-grader Melania Barbosa stated, “I think that there is a camera in the bathroom.”

     6th-grader Nora Harrison said, “I think it’s from the chorus room.” 

     Even 8th-grade counselor Mrs. Pentangelo had her theories: “I think the bathrooms are haunted. This has been happening for so long.” 

     Overall, there has been a mix of positive and negative responses about the strange music. Some students, like 7th grader Amelia Romeo, don’t mind the noise. “I love it! It just randomly plays a sound for three seconds.” 

     Some other students disagree, like 6th-grader Macy Hartz. “It’s honestly more annoying to use the bathroom.”. 

     7th-grader Hannah Gillespie added, “It’s so scary when it goes off.”

     Thankfully, Mr. Gechtman was able to shed light on the situation after looking into what was happening. He explained that the strange music is actually the clock system resetting. There is a speaker in the bathroom so students can hear important announcements like lockdown drills and fire drills. Whenever the clock system resets it creates music that comes through the speaker. 

     Thankfully, not only is the theory of the bathroom being haunted false, but so is Melania’s theory. 

     “There are no cameras in any bathrooms. It’s actually illegal,” Mr. Gechtman added.

      Mr. Gechtman also said that the Tech Department and the custodians are currently working on fixing everything. The weird music should be gone any day now. Hopefully, this article has put the students and faculty at ease and has answered all their questions. Thank gosh the bathrooms aren’t haunted.