We have secrets, you have secrets, everyone has secrets, even our school has secrets. But, does the school have a fifth floor, really?   

Recently, signs have been popping up all over Morton that ask where the fifth floor of the school is.  According to Mr. Gamboa, Morton East High School principal, “There is no such thing as 5th and 6th floor. But the tunnels have been there since the school was built in 1894.”  

The tunnels are 130 years old. There is more than one way down to the tunnels. They used to go all the way to Cicero Avenue, but over the years they were closed. In the past one of the most know American gangster Al Capone use the tunnels. In a random survey of 95 Morton East students 37 students reported that they knew about the tunnels existing. 

“The entrance to the tunnel, was through a door, inside the preschooler’s washroom. There were a few steps down and then you would have to stoop down, you couldn’t stand up. There wasn’t much lighting either. We found the door open or unlocked more than once. It creeped us out. Someone put something between the door handle and the floor, so no one could come up into the washroom area from underneath,” Debra Sova said. 

Some people have actually seen the entrance, while some have seen it in pictures. 

“I’ve heard so many rumors about the tunnels, fifth floor and the sixth floor. There is an Instagram page called the “unusual_morton_images”. They posted a video about a few weeks ago about it and explained how Gamboa knows about it. But I truly feel like it is fake, and we don’t have any fifth or sixth floors,” varsity girl basketball Aishia Sylla said. 

As some of the Morton East students don’t believe the tunnels or penthouse floors are real, other students say they have seen then with their own eyes, and they are optimistic about the 6th floor. 

“I’ve never seen (the tunnels) up close and personal, but I’ve heard that it looks very eerie down there. I’ve heard many kids talking about (extra higher floors),  but I’m very optimistic of there being a 6th floor,” varsity girls basketball player Zariah Edwards said. 

Often times, rumors tend to glorify the gloominess.   

“I’ve heard rumors that it looks like an old asylum it gives me negative vibes just be hearing about,” Kiren Llort said.