As students at NPHS, we all go through the same morning routine, including scanning in at the kiosks. This can be a frustrating start to the day, so I decided to look a little further into the kiosk system to understand it a little better. 

As we wait in a line that felt longer than the trip to school, on a crisp winter morning, many of us ponder the need to sign in on a kiosk at the entrance to North Penn High School. 

While many have little concern for the need for these kiosks, it is worth understanding why this system has been put in place. 

“When you guys log into the kiosk it is a backup for us to know who actually is in the building”  attendance secretary, Ms. Lisa Foster explained.                      

I took some time to talk with Mrs. Foster about this sign in process, and what it looks like on the school’s end of things. Right off the bat, we began my own sign-in, showing me the date and exact time I logged in. 

She starts by walking me through the site, informing me if someone isn’t signed in although they get marked present for Knight Time, “we have to find out why they didn’t sign in and write them up for failure to sign-in,¨ Foster explained. 

This is my first time hearing this write-up, as admittedly I’ve walked straight through the kiosk in the past. Perhaps this is just the exception to the rule. 

Many of us have asked our teachers what the kiosks are actually for, if they can see attendance through them, and what the purpose of both sign-ins is. Yet the staff that has access to the information the kiosks provide are only the attendance secretaries, and the principals.

So, while administration can track who does and does not sign in, the system of actually signing in seems to have a few flaws. One of which is the fact that lines grow quote long, and at peak times in the morning, the back up at these machines is inconvenient. 

Giving these sign-ins more equal set up around the school could alleviate the lines snaking outside the bus line. 

While the way the kiosks are controlled is very frustrating, that doesn’t devalue the use of the kiosks.Kiosks give our secretaries an easier way to manage attendance, While at the same time giving us another real layer of protection for North Penn.

While some of us find it annoying, or pointless, the kiosks have real value to the safety and progression of North Penn.