high school! eek!

April 9, 2006 at 12:07 AM

So I had narrowed down my choices for high school to two candidates; homeschooling or one of the public magnet high schools in my area, Central. It's one of the oldest in the country, and it's huge. So I shadowed there (followed around a freshman to all of their classes for a day, to get the feel of the school), and when I got home that day, I got my letter from the Philadelphia School District, saying what schools I had gotten into. I already knew I was into Central, and another school which we had already talked with about my schedule (FTT traveling) and they said it wouldn't work, and they didn't want me to come there if I couldn't come to school all the time. But then, to my total surprise, I got into Masterman, a small, public magnet school. It's very selective and is the highest-ranked secondary school in the state of PA. They have a middle school too, and it's bigger than the high school, and a lot of the middle school kids try to go, so they hardly accept anyone from outside. The ninth grade class is only 100 kids, compared to 200 in the eighth grade. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out I got in. Now, here are the pro's and con's of both: at Central, I would be with my friends from middle school. However, it is so big that my chance of seeing them would be pretty slim. At Masterman, I would get more individual attention. I would also be the only new person coming to the school, and all the other kids would have been together all through middle school. We talked to the principal at Central, and he said they could make exceptions (i.e., I could come in late on Thursdays, so I could have a violin lesson in the morning.) And at Masterman I'm not sure I could do that. And the worst part is I have two days to make my decision!! Ahh!!!!!

Last Tuesday we saw Wicked!!!!! At the Academy of Music here in Philadelphia. I saw it with my sister, her boyfriend, my other sister, and one of our friends. It was so much fun! I saw it in New York last year, and this time it was different people, but it was just as great. Wicked is definitely one of my all-time favorite musicals. Has anyone seen it?

--alice

From Jenna Potts
Posted on April 9, 2006 at 1:18 AM

Congrats, Alice! A good high school helps so much for later in life (college etc.). I hope you are happy with the decision you make. I was homeschooled all my life, and there are definate pros and cons to it. If you want a solid, competetive academic base, you might want to consider a good private school. If you want more practice time and can work hard on your own, consider home school.

From Colleen Russo
Posted on April 9, 2006 at 2:37 AM

Okay well, I think you should go with Masterman. It's obviously a huge honor that you got in (congrats by the way), but it sounds like it's a great place and you would get an amazing education. Don't worry about the friends thing. You are very outgoing so you will have NO problem making new friends, and you can stay in touch with your friends at Central too! You'll just have twice as many :)

I'm sure if you explain your situation to Masterman, with the lessons and all, then they'll understand. They should be lucky to have a student like you and try and work with your schedule.

That's funny though that you guys have to like apply for highschool, we don't here in Iowa...

From Danielle Gauthier
Posted on April 9, 2006 at 3:35 PM

I love Wicked...
I saw it on broadway last summer...our hotel was right across the street from the Gershwin (where it was at). I think they're coming to Denver sometime this year, I'd love to go.

This entry has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

high school! eek!

Subscribe

Laurie's Books