If you came back after the “long spring break” and wondered if we always had decals on the doors, you are not alone.

For the 2020-2021 school year, Ridge had door decals commissioned for safety, beautification, and for an easier way to locate the buildings. The doors were created in a process that took about a year, with Covid making the process even longer. 

The safety factor of the doors is in place for someone to easily access the buildings and locate them. For example, if a student was having a seizure, the EMT would be able to easily locate the buildings and find the student or teacher in trouble. 

Ridge was recently painted and the decals added a perfect spice to the buildings. Every school has some sort of beautification, and this is what Ridge decided on to make the school look better.

“We talked to the parent group and some of our parent team, and they wanted something to beautify the campus and I kinda helped float this idea because it helped safety and it helped kind of update the campus a little bit,” said David Vines, Principal. 

Any students, newcomers to Ridge or active parents can easily see what letters the buildings are. In the past, parents have complained about not being able to find the buildings. They would often get lost which caused frustration. Another part of having these stickers was to help anyone new to the campus. For example, freshmen don’t know the campus well and may have difficulty locating their classes. With these eye catching designs, they can easily navigate the campus. 

“We talked to parents, and students. A lot of them found, especially if it was their first or second time on campus, they had a hard time identifying buildings,” stated Vines.

The decals were put in and purchased when working with a company that works to ‘beautify’ schools. The district works with these companies to get in what schools need or want. 

The decals will be kept on the doors for as long as possible. They should last a few years, but like anything, they will get old. They may get damaged in the heat or find themselves scraped up with continuous contact. 

The designs found on the doors were assisted by Greg Perry, graphic design teacher, and his advanced graphics classes. The designs were approved and looked over, and they gave the school an idea of what they would look like.

The doors make the school more accessible for all students and pull all of the new beautifications in together. They provide safety and are an eye-catching way to show which building is which.