Being a new student at any school, in any grade can be hard, but at Pattonville High School, it is a whole different level of transitioning, especially if you’re like me. Pattonville has over 1,890 students and offers several unique classes for students to take. The school, located in Maryland Heights, has a population of 27,769 people. This is all a big stretch from where I am from. I am from Lemay, Missouri, about thirty minutes away; population 16,200 people. Pattonville High School students come from Saint Ann, Overland, and Bridgeton, making the school much more crowded than I ever expected. My old school only had about 400 students in the entire high school. I’m told that’s the size of our senior class.
In Lemay, most children knew each other and started going to the same preschool, elementary, middle, and eventually the same high school. There wasn’t much choice considering there was only one of each. It’s a town where everyone knows each other and everyone’s business. While some people find it invasive, I found it comforting for the most part. I knew everyone. In school you didn’t have to be ‘popular’, an athlete or even involved in a club. If you attended school you became known and everyone socialized with each other regardless of the circumstances.
I was curious to see if other new students experience the same culture shock as I did when starting at Pattonville this year. “It’s not similar at all. I went to a smaller school with about 300 kids so this was a different experience,” Sophomore, Xavier Host said.
I had visited Pattonville High School, prior to my first day, I believe it was the second or third day of school and the halls were flooded. I remember telling my mom’s boyfriend, “Oh my goodness! There are hundreds of kids here…” and he just laughed. To me, the amount of students in just one hall was something I’d expect from a college, not a high school.
What shocked me the most about being “the new kid” was that no one was excited to see me. At my old school, a new student was like a slice of fresh meat in a tiger’s den, everyone was curious. At Pattonville, I could tell no one was a stranger to new arrivals because of how little effect it had on them. No one bombarded me with questions, no one really stared, but to be fair I came two weeks into the year. It can be somewhat isolating. “It’s kind of rough because everybody already has assigned friend groups, so it’s kind of lonely because I haven’t really made friends for real. I miss my old friends and my old school.” Junior and new student, Danielle Adory said.
I initially thought there would be at least one student that I would be around for most of the day, but there is not a single repeated classmate in my schedule. The good thing about that is I have been encouraged to have conversations with new people. The different races, languages, and religions throughout this school show me something positive about this community. The way that Pattonville embraces diversity is something that I am truly impressed by.
The counselors, administrators, and students have been a blessing. I had a kind student show me around on my first day. It saved me from being confused, late to class, and from finding myself wandering around the halls wondering what part of the building I was supposed to be in. Despite all of the differences such as the size of the school, and the amount of students, I have enjoyed my time at Pattonville so far and I hope to have a good end to my high school career here as a Pirate.
