"Good schools" vs. "Friendly schools"

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Yupa
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03 Jan 2006, 6:44 pm

OK, I used to go to a "friendly school" where I quickly learned to be on first-name terms with everyone and where most people were good acquantances or close friends of mine.
So, anyhow, I ended up moving to a prestigious public high school (the same one Faye Dunaway went to, according to Wikipedia), whose PR people seem to be particularly successful, one that people in general consider to be a "good school." However, a lot of the teachers are total pricks and it's incredibly difficult to befriend anyone and the students seem to be emotionally cold towards newcomers -not newcomers to the town mind you, just newcomers to the school.
Personally, I prefer my old school, if only for the fact that I went there everyday knowing I'd spend some time with people I actually knew and respected.
My new school (I've been there most of the fall semester, and I -still- count myself as new) is another story entirely. [/list]



Nomaken
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03 Jan 2006, 7:15 pm

I think it is a lot more important for a pre-college school to be a nice school than a good school so that the childs curiosity and sociability isn't ruined for the times when they really need it. I learned important s**t in elementary school, but my middle school and high school education was a disgusting waste of time.


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Namiko
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03 Jan 2006, 9:17 pm

In an ideal world, schools would be both good and friendly. But Yupa, give the people time to warm up to you a little bit more. If things don't improve by the end of the school year, you should probably talk to your folks about changing back to your old school if possible or finding a different school if that's what you want.


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03 Jan 2006, 11:43 pm

Also, you may want to look into some of the extracurricular clubs at this high school. Perhaps you could join a club or something, and get to know some people a little better, especially if there's a club that touches on your interests.

Good luck!


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PrisonerSix
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09 Jan 2006, 9:41 pm

Yupa wrote:
OK, I used to go to a "friendly school" where I quickly learned to be on first-name terms with everyone and where most people were good acquantances or close friends of mine.
So, anyhow, I ended up moving to a prestigious public high school (the same one Faye Dunaway went to, according to Wikipedia), whose PR people seem to be particularly successful, one that people in general consider to be a "good school." However, a lot of the teachers are total pricks and it's incredibly difficult to befriend anyone and the students seem to be emotionally cold towards newcomers -not newcomers to the town mind you, just newcomers to the school.
Personally, I prefer my old school, if only for the fact that I went there everyday knowing I'd spend some time with people I actually knew and respected.
My new school (I've been there most of the fall semester, and I -still- count myself as new) is another story entirely. [/list]


I went to a total of 7 schools from grades 1-12 and for the most part, none were really accepting of newcomers, at least in my experience. It was very hard to get any sort of acceptance in any of them for me, if I got any acceptance at all.

On the other hand, my sister's experiences were different, she could often just fit in wherever she wanted to. My parents often gave me hell because I had social problems and she didn't, which of course meant there was something wrong with me since she was the saint who always had good grades, liked to read alot, and liked to swim. I usually did OK on the grades, but not on the other things. They wanted two of my sister and I refused to be the other.


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Snowy Owl
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17 Jan 2006, 3:00 am

I believe good and friendly schools are the same. When I moved into Year 7, I went to a grammar school. Posh toffs and stuck up imbeciles. I got grades of mostly Bs and a few Cs. When I moved house to another school, the people were worse. Mostly Bs, a few Cs. Then I was withdrawn by my mother as the bullying got serious and I went to one of the worst schools in the area as everywhere else said no. My grades skyrocketed to almost all As, I wasn't picked on, in fact I was literally the most popular kid in the school for the year I was there (who'd have thought?) and I had a great time. It's hard to learn when everything is getting you down, so friendly schools get my vote. Hell, even the chavs there were nice people.



pyraxis
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17 Jan 2006, 9:48 am

I'd much rather be at a good school, and I tried both. But by good I don't necessarily mean rich and prestigious and charging an arm and a leg for tuition. I mean the quality and variety of the classes, openmindedness of the teachers, and how much I was challenged. How friendly it was didn't make a difference.