The past four years I have gone to an alternative high school. It's called Avanti high school and it's total students averaged about 100. It's not a private school or a christian school. It's simply an alternative high school. Our graduating class is about 42 people this year.
Going through junior high I witnessed the ridiculoussness of public school and my parents decided to put me into a school where I didn't have to expereince the insanity of high school. I have always wandered if I have missed out on anything? Now just to allow you to know what I have done while not attending a mainstream high school. I have sailed on a tall ship, rowed with Olympia Area Rowing Team. Been a Cispus Camp Counselor and camp counselor. Led a club and been the secretary for an ASB.
As you can see going to an altrenative school hasn' t held me back. Instead it has allowed me the freedom and independance to achieve. There wasn't any clicks or fights or extreme stereotypes. Everyone is themselves at Avanti and allowed to be themselves. Name calling and visual discrimination are frowned upon by the students and teachers. We even call our teachers by their first name. It's a one on one learning environment.
I don't even want to get started on the pros and cons of mainstream highschool. I know it has a lot of benefits with all the clubs and extra-curricular activities. As to school society though, I'd perfer Avanti. This small piece of heaven is the best thing for me when it comes to highschool. It's taught me to be self-motivated and a hard worker. I hope that this brings awareness to alternative high schools. What do you think are th pros and cons of both typs of schools?
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I Know. I'm in alternative high and i have enjoyed it. i too often wonder what life would have been like if i had stuck with mainstream but its over now. just a tip though, most personal stuff like this doesn't ge noticed here. the directors and faculty have some great tips on how to write a good blog and you can find those using the search option and the top bar. good luck and enjoy the site.
locke
I dont know, but I think alternative high schools are progressive and belong here. Even if they don't get a comment from everyone.
I think its great that there are so many different options out there because no school is right for everyone. You brought up some good benifits about both alternative high schools and "mainstream" high schools, and it's nice that people can have the choice.
I'm really not sure what the differences between an alternative school and a public high school are other than class size. It sounds really interesting though and I'd like to learn more about it.
Well at an alternative high school their aren't labels such as preppy vs. braniac.
Things change with a smaller class size, there's more respect and room for independant thinking. Just a list a few.
i attended an alternative high school but to most of the students there bullying and namecalling were welcomed and i was usually a main target because im gay. most of the school did drugs. its one of those things were we live in a city in which most of the kids parents have big money so with money they can buy drugs and being a nice area people arent really suspected of having drugs. most of the kids in there school had behavioral problems. the teachers were great but the kids were just so cruel. how those teachers could be so great with those kind of kids i will never know.
im very glad for you that your school is the right place for you. im sure that there are the same issues i had at the alternative school as there are at the mainstrrem hs i go to now. but since the school is so big and packed no one is really one on one in your face about any sort of issues. i wish my alternative school could have been as good of an expierence as yours is and was.