At Patriot High School, songs from timeless classics to rock hits play within the hallways as students transition from one class to the next. The songs create a soundtrack that captures Patriot’s lively style, cultivating a unique school-wide atmosphere. However, as the newer generations come into high school, the current tracks seem to be irrelevant and outdated, with an apparent disconnect from the music tastes of the youth today.
The playing of hallway music was established to “help students have an oral representation of time,” says David Van Gelder, the acting principal at Patriot High School. The music stops playing when there are 30 seconds remaining until the next period starts, subconsciously alerting students to hurry to their following class.
Faren Ahrens, a chemistry teacher at Patriot High School, describes the hallway music as a recharge in between classes. “For me, music has always been a calming mechanism. It’s always been a way to just center myself, and I think that’s the way it is with a lot of students,” she says.
While Ahrens’ opinion is likely shared by most people, the current hallway music might not align with the majority of the student population’s individual tastes, especially as a refresher. With music apps like Spotify and Apple Music available to students, many opt to listen to their own personalized playlists through earbuds or headphones. However, starting in August of 2025, Prince William County Schools will be implementing a policy making it so that cellphones and all wireless devices must be off and stored for the entire school day, from the morning bell to the dismissal bell. With this policy in place, students will no longer have a choice of whether or not they can block out the current music with their own.
A survey that analyzed responses from 40 Patriot High School students showed that almost 53% of students felt that the current hallway music did not resonate with their personal music taste. Taking into consideration how music affects people’s mindset, constantly listening to unappealing songs can end up negatively affecting students’ moods.
Van Gelder recognizes this issue, saying, “We have a very diverse student population here, diverse in background, but also diverse in [music] interest… I think it’s important for people to be exposed to different music, to really learn where their interests are, and on top of that, to feel recognized. I would absolutely experiment with changing up styles.”
Van Gelder, along with Ahrens, is working to change the way the music is played in the hallways. Ahrens says, “What I’m trying to do is create music that everybody in the building can connect to as opposed to just one person controlling all of the music. We’re trying to get it to where eventually students can suggest songs or different student groups can take control and play music.”
Van Gelder adds onto this, saying, “We’re trying to get creative about how that might look. Would it be our 9th grade class brings us the music this week, or the 10th grade class? [Or] student organizations, various clubs and other interests… We make a point to share with our school community: ‘This week’s music is brought to you by this association.’”
There is a lot to consider while picking the music to play on the school speaker’s, such as appropriateness and availability. Currently, the music is played off of CDs, meaning the songs must be burned onto a disc in order to have them in the hallway rotation. For this reason, implementing student feedback and custom music in the future will require a digital format for convenience. Van Gelder says, “We have to vet what goes through the speakers that over 2000 people are hearing from.” This can prove to be tedious when all of the songs are student-picked.
Additionally, music impacts the way people feel and act. According to the National Library of Medicine, songs with faster tempos, as well as other sonic features such as loudness and variation in pitch, subconsciously make people walk faster. This can be useful in the hallways as it urges students to get to class quicker.
With the hallway music specifically being aimed towards the student body, it is important to take their preferences into consideration as well. From the same survey mentioned earlier, students were asked what genres and styles of music they preferred to listen to on the loudspeakers. 92.5% of respondents preferred lyrical songs over instrumentals, and 59% preferred laid-back over energetic music. Most respondents also preferred the genres pop and R&B the most, specifying nostalgic early 2000’s-2010’s music.
At the end of the day, all individuals’ personal music tastes will not be satisfied, no matter who picks the songs. However, acknowledging musical diversity within Patriot is already a step in the right direction to making the hallway music satisfy a wider audience. As of right now, the sound system is in the works of being digitalized, playing more current and popular songs that better resonate with the student body, and feedback has been positive. By continuing to embrace this diversity and adapt to student preferences, the hallway music will help to foster an improved sense of community musically in Patriot High School.
