6 Reasons Why My School is More Special than Yours

I'll start with the most special thing... The thing that makes everyone wonder... And ask me all sorts of weird questions...

I go to an all-girls school!
As in, there are no boys. (You would be surprised how many times someone has asked that.)
I haven't been in a co-ed classroom since elementary school. It's not that big of a deal when you're there, but it always shocks people. I would not want my education any other way.

I started at my high school as a 6th grader.
What's grown to be a full high school, started with 11 and 12 year olds. We're now a middle-high school that goes from 6th grade to 12th grade, and I started at the beginning.

We were the first class of students.
We are still a very new school, and I began attending there its first year, in 2010. There were only two grades (6th and 7th) and 150 students. I could count the original staff on my fingers (I'm friends with most of them on Facebook now).
Nobody had heard of our school, and nobody knew each other. We came from all over our city. I was one of the lucky ones to start with a best friend in tow, but it was brand new for us all.

I'm the first graduating class to make it all the way through.
Each year, we added a grade. 2016 marked out first graduating senior class (24 of those original 75 7th graders walked the stage), and now it is my year---we are the first group to have started from the beginning (as wee sixth graders) and make it all the way through.

Nobody knows what they're doing.
The principal had never been a principal before, a handful of our teachers had never taught before, and none of us knew what we were getting into, that's for sure. More on that later...

And a bonus:
We are a STEAM school.
Science. Technology. Engineering. Arts. Math. We cover it all. It's one of the main goals of the school to empower girls to break stereotypes and become the next leaders of society. Maybe they will... Maybe they won't. Who's to know?

And another bonus:
The building is right downtown.
I live in a large city. But, it's mostly full of large suburban-style neighborhoods and convenient strips of restaurants and shops scattered throughout. There's a large central area with a big theater, and a square with fancy shops. (I always kind of brushed it off as a wannabe big city.) All the other high schools in the district have huge plots of land and very obviously look like a school. Not us. We are located on the corner opposite the major bus station and less two blocks from the bustling business centers. I'll make a grand list of pros and cons to this situation another day.

Have I proved why my school is special yet? A minuscule class of all girls that started alone in 6th grade? It's a wild ride I can't wait to document better, and recall my experiences in the coming year. I'm ready for everyone to hear and for me to remember it all.




Leslie