Behind the scenes: NHS’s custodial department 

Every day hundreds of students come to Norwood high. They go to class, they eat lunch, and then they go home at 2:00. This is the norm for everyone at Norwood high but few recognize those who stay behind and keep our hallways, bathrooms, and classrooms clean. It's time to shine a spotlight on those who keep our school running. 

In total there are 7 custodians working at Norwood High and this number includes Senior Custodian Charles Griffiths who has worked at NHS in both the new and old building for over 31 years.  

Griffiths’s job begins early in the morning. 

“I gotta open the building that’s my job because I’m the senior custodian. Then you got the night crew those guys come in a 2 o’clock so they've got their own sections on the first, second and third floors and they go to their sections and clean it up and get it all ready for the next day,” he said.   

On top of cleaning duties, the custodial staff also has the job of ensuring that the school has enough supplies 

“One of the guys will go to the bathrooms and make sure the toilet paper is good, paper towels, are good, soap, whatever,” Griffiths said. 

On top of having to ensure that the high school's bathrooms are both clean and properly stocked they also receive food shipments and directly transport them to the lunchroom staff.  

A very important question to ask is how has covid affected the custodial staff and their job. 

According to senior custodian Charles Griffiths, “We were lucky we still were kept on by the town. It was a big change with no students or teachers around so it was a big change and it is not something that I'm going to forget.” 

Through the chaos of Covid and post-Covid school life, the custodial department remains the silent workhorse behind the scenes keeping our school running properly. So next time you’re leaving or going from NHS give a wave or a quick thank you to the people who make this chaos an organized one.