On Thursday, September 7, and Friday, September 8, the Worcester Public Schools announced an early release, due to the forecasted heat. After school activities were canceled or delayed on Thursday, in addition to being canceled on Wednesday, September 6, as outdoor temperatures in the city climbed into the 80s and 90s.

On Thursday, highs reached above 93 degrees, disrupting students’ days both during and after school. “I think the building was pretty hot,” said Tuyen Nguyen ‘26, “and that kind of distracted me from focusing on my work.”

Though South has air conditioning, it didn’t feel like it for many students, some of whom complained to teachers about the heat and the fatigue it seemed to cause. Opening the windows didn’t help, either. “It just felt humid and musky,” said Lisette Cruz ‘26. “Why are they making us go here in literally 90 degree weather?”

The early release at 10:43am allowed students to get out of the building, but conditions outside weren’t favorable, and walking down Apricot Street wasn’t enjoyable. “It was moist, it was humid,” said Sadie Beauregard ‘26, who walked home after school wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants. She even held a folder over her face to protect it from the sun and heat.

“There was sweat dripping from my nose and everything,” said Cruz, describing her walk home. In the evening, Cruz decided to go for a run, but the heat was still intense and she suffered an asthma attack. “When I got home, my chest got super tight and everything,” she said.

She had decided to go for a run since she wasn’t going to South soccer practice; the girls’ team held a practice at 7pm because of the heat. Practice was only an hour—shorter than usual—“but from what I heard, it was torture,” described Cruz; even that late in the evening, the heat was still intense.

While the girls’ soccer team pushed their practice back, the South’s girls’ volleyball team canceled practice altogether. With her first game on Friday at home against Grafton, first-time Junior Varsity player Nguyen was frustrated. “I think it was pretty unfair, because we didn’t have extra time to practice,” she said, “and I’m pretty nervous [about my first game].”

Nguyen tried to make the most of her early release on Thursday, going over to a friend’s house and practicing volleyball, “but it wasn’t as good because it was only two people playing, instead of the whole team.”

The heat and the early release affected the normal routines of students, taking away time for learning, disrupting sports schedules, and creating unsafe and unpleasant environments for students, both outdoors and inside school. 

Plainly, as Beauregard said, “it was too hot outside.”