There have been rumors of ghosts roaming around the Santa Fe High School campus for years. All the unusual and spooky occurrences demand an explanation. 

Science teacher Mrs. Anaya has encountered several phenomena in the Business Center, one of the oldest buildings on campus. One example is her room’s temperature. “I’m always freezing in here,” Mrs. Anaya said, “my classroom is always really cold.” But the strange thing is only she can feel it. She has asked students if they can feel it, but has always received replies of uncertainty.

Mrs. Anaya often stays after school alone to work. One time, one of the papers on her desk flew off without any signs. There was no wind or any outside factors. Without hesitation, she left for the day.

Another day, while she was working at her desk, the lights in her room suddenly began to flicker, followed by chairs falling off the students’ desks in an ordered sequence. “It was scary, especially when you’re focused on something,” she said.

These phenomena occur not only when Mrs. Anaya is alone, but also during class. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a male wearing a blue shirt walk [toward me], so I was going to tell him, ‘One moment,’” she stated. At that moment, she was talking to another student, so she didn’t pay much attention to him. But when she looked again, “No one was there.” When asked, none of her students had seen the man.

But Mrs. Anaya is not the only person who perceives a presence. Another witness was a janitor in the Business Center. One time when Mrs. Anaya was entering the restroom to wash her hands, the janitor saw a man in a black shirt follow her in. “He stood there and asked me, ‘Who went in after you?’ ” Later, the janitor described seeing the same man follow her back to her classroom.

One time two girls heard groaning noises in the Business Center restroom. When they went to investigate, the door smashed behind them. They then looked below the stall doors and opened the door from where the noise was coming from, but there was no one there.

Ms. Schepps, the school’s registrar, has encountered similar experiences. According to Ms. Schepps, when she first arrived at Santa Fe High in 2013, there had always been spooky phenomena taking place in her room in the Student Services building. The lights in her room unexpectedly flickered, a pen suddenly disappeared, and objects moved without human involvement. 

One year during summer school, Ms. Schepps went to the teacher’s lounge to make copies. Suddenly the lights shut off and both of the doors were locked. The copier was still functioning, showing that the lights had nothing to do with a power outage. She shouted, “‘Stop messing with me! This is not ok!” Everything then returned to normal and she took several days off afterward. 

To Ms. Schepps, the scariest day for her took place during the summer of 2023. That day, she was organizing student records and stepped out of her office. “When I stepped out, I saw a black shadow, and when I turned my head it came at me and disappeared before it hit me. I couldn’t even move,” Ms. Schepps said. After that encounter, she had to keep her door open for several days in order to work. “I felt so cold and was shaking,” she recalled. 

Although encountering several of these phenomena, Ms. Schepps said she believes the ghosts are just messing with her, and she wouldn’t be as afraid of it as before anymore. 

For Mrs. Anaya, she said, “I have a lot of faith in my own religion, so it hasn’t been as scary, but there’s definitely presence.” She advised, “Show them that you are not afraid of it, and they will leave you alone.”