Good Air Equals Good Grades

How South’s New Air Conditioning System Is Making the School Cooler and Healthier

Shreyansh Sura, Staff Writer

September 16, 2025

A new HVAC system was one of many improvements done to campus during the Summer break.

During the summer prior to the 2025-2026 school year, South Forsyth High School made several changes to the campus, both physical and intrapersonal.

Oh, and how could I forget the cellphone ban?

Despite there being some tweaks that the students at South acknowledge, there are numerous changes not realized by many, and one of those is our new HVAC system.

Chilly yet Challenging

The HVAC system stands for “Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning,” and there’s really no need to explain the name further. The system includes a heat pump, furnace, (de)humidifier, ventilator, and other technologies all controlled by a simple thermostat.

Despite providing comfort for those at school, the installation of the system posed some manual and technical challenges.

“[Some issues were] coordinating work around the school schedule to minimize disruption, [and] managing large equipment in tight or occupied spaces,” said Sam Tartic, South’s Head Custodian.

But with manual installation comes numerous technical difficulties which arise when dealing with a structure as sprawling as South’s campus. “[The technical problems were] integrating new HVAC components with existing building infrastructure, ensuring proper ventilation and air quality standards, and addressing any [unknown] issues like outdated wiring or ductwork,” Tartic said.

Lower Temps, Higher GPAs

Despite some challenges, with the new HVAC in use, the halls and classrooms of South Forsyth High have been renewed with fresh air and refreshing temperatures. However, the system has also been noted to be slightly extreme in its air conditioning, with many students even stating that the system is making rooms much colder than in previous years.

“I really feel it is a big change in the overall cooling system [from now to the year prior’s], because it’s very cool and it’s not [as cool] like now,” said junior Vihaan Shah.

Despite the chillier nature of this year’s air conditioning compared to last year’s, it’s valid to mention that the new HVAC system has been beneficial to the school in many ways. The new system will also support students’ respiratory health, a change which will continue to impact classes of students for years to come.

Sources:

Fonda, A. (2023). How Do HVAC Systems Work and What Does HVAC Stand For? – Trane®. Trane Residential. https://www.trane.com/residential/en/resources/glossary/what-is-hvac/

Freitas, T. (2022, June 14). What Is HVAC? How Does HVAC Work? Angi. https://www.angi.com/articles/what-is-hvac.htm

About the Contributors

Shreyansh Sura, Staff Writer

This year, Shrey’s excited to write again for The Bird Feed, with his primary motivation being the immense support from the newspaper’s readers and his aspiration to keep supplying them with quality articles. But with great ambitions comes great doubt, as the risk of dropping a poorly written piece is always there. However, that’s only the worst case scenario; all he has to do is write–just write–and his worries will be gone. As for his life currently, he’s a junior who’s learning how to balance a much heavier workload with activities he’s passionate about. His favorite thing to do: stay home, as all he really wants is just to chill. But since he’s an upperclassman now, his main priorities are relatively simple; study hard to get good grades, hang out to have good times, and don’t stay up to get good sleep. School is the most important thing for him, but academics isn’t all one needs in life, if it wasn’t for a thing called a hobby. His are to watch great movies, read fantastic books, write creative stories, and listen to hip hop. He also values spending time with his family, along with playing basketball whenever he can with his friends.

The Bird Feed Staff

The Bird Feed is the student news site of South Forsyth High School. We serve the student body by providing timely and relevant content to our readers. We place an emphasis on objective news, but The Bird Feed does have a character that represents our staff which we will present occasionally. We also give significance to multimedia and believe that it is vital to maintaining a diverse and engaging news site.