Because district employees accidentally disabled an electrical component while replacing air filters on campus, several buildings lost electricity for three hours on the morning of Sept. 26, Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said.

Berkson said the unexpected power outage was a challenge for administrators and confused many faculty.

“I was constantly on the phone with the school maintenance, sending emails to teachers to let them know of it,” Berkson said.

Spanish teacher Kevin Duffy said power outages like this one pose problems for teachers and prevent them from leading interactive class activities requiring technology.

“We have a daily agenda to project and activities to do,” Duffy said. “(Power outages) make class very challenging — how do we adapt and come up with something that doesn’t require light?”

Duffy also said the outage prompted him to have his classes engage in speaking activities.

“You should always have a backup plan, right? There’s always something else that you can do. Something else that you can practice,” Duffy said.

Regardless of teachers’ attempts, sophomore Akio Altekar-Okazaki said it was difficult to engage in learning without access to the internet.

He said, “Nowadays, technology is essential for learning because basically every single assignment is online, even tests.”