I bet you think you know every nook and cranny of Stamford High School. I bet if you’re an upperclassman you scoff at freshman asking for directions. “How have you not figured out this school yet? It’s only nine floors that are ordered in a completely illogical manner. Gosh!” In fact, I bet you think it would be a piece of cake to walk the hallways blindfolded. WRONG. In actuality, SHS is entirely more mysterious than one would think.

What follows is an exposé. You may be astonished, you may feel excited and you will definitely walk away feeling like you really never knew SHS.

1. Wood Shop

No, your eyes did not deceive you. There is, in fact, a room at SHS dedicated to wood shop. Although there are no wood shop classes, the room still sees some action from adults carrying out maintenance in the building. If you WOOD like to check out the wood shop room, it’s on the sixth floor.

2. The Courtyard

You’ve seen it from inside the building, but very few students know how it looks from the outside, let alone how to get there. One entrance is through a locked door in the media center. The walls are covered in beautiful natural vines. There are a few benches dispersed throughout, covered in fallen leaves and cobwebs due to their lack of use.

3. The Kitchen

We’ve all saved seats for our friends waiting in the lunch line, but have you ever seen where their food has been prepared? The kitchen is not only gigantic, but also one of the neatest places in the school. It’s even decked out with it’s own food elevator, a blue structure where heavy or large amounts of food can be placed and lifted up a few steps. Who needs elevator music when you can eat elevator food?

4. “The Stairs to Nowhere”

While exploring SHS, I asked various security guards and custodians if they knew of a place most students have never been. Over and over they would say, “The Stairs to Nowhere.” If you walk into the first building from the front door, and continue all the way to the end of the hallway, you enter a glass-walled area and “The Stairs to Nowhere.” Walk up the stairs, and you’re on the second floor. Take the stairs all the way down, and you actually end up outside, in the area between the first and second buildings, visible from the bridges.

5. The Basement and Boilers of the First Building

The average SHS student has no business in the boiler rooms of the school, so very few have seen it. The descent to the boiler room is indeed eerie, and what’s down there is jaw-dropping. The heating and water work systems that help the school run are massive. These structures allow for things like the flushing of toilets and the running of water in sinks and water fountains.

6. The Principal’s Office

Let’s finish off easy. Unless you’ve been in trouble, you have probably never seen Mr. Manka’s office before. With two navy plush chairs, a Red Sox shrine, and lots of orange and black décor, it’s actually a pretty sweet set-up.

Now, the next time you think you know SHS like the back of your hand, think again. This place is chock full of mysterious unexplored places.