The shrill piercing of a brand new bell bounces off the walls of Skyline High School. Then-freshman Natalie Schultz hurries from class and joins a flood of her peers. Exasperated, Schultz scuttles off. She manages to slip into her next class with the final seconds of her five-minute passing time ticking away. Her methodical days at Skyline High School are numbered. With this thought in mind, Schultz settles in.

For the first two trimesters, life at Skyline was agreeable. The brand new apple laptops, Olympic-sized pool and other luxuries of the beautiful building were nothing to complain about. Nor were the academics. In fact, self-motivated Schultz preferred Skyline’s way of doing things. “I really liked the trimesters actually…. I felt like I was doing more,” says Schultz. Skyline’s schedule allowed Schultz to pack more classes into one day.

Along with the trimesters came extended class periods. Schultz reveled in the opportunity to spend the 70 allotted minutes a day in her favorite class – science. “The science department was incredible,” says Schultz. “It was very hands-on.”

The academic lifestyle of Skyline was suitable for Schultz up until the third trimester. She was given new teachers, one in particular who clashed with her learning style. “I ended up having to teach myself the lesson,” she said. Shultz’s new teacher took offense to this, yet did not proceed to change anything about the situation. Along with this conflict came another class Schultz did not feel compatible with. These circumstances led to a lack of interest in school. “It was a chore to go to school,” Schultz said. This attitude would continue up until the point of Schultz’s admission into CHS. “I wasn’t looking forward to any of my classes, and after I got into Community I realized how done I was with Skyline,” she says.

The feeling of elation with regards to school reignited one afternoon when Schultz received a text from her sister in class. “My sister texted me in the middle of class one day in June,” she says. The text instructed Schultz to call her sister immediately. Shultz ran into the bathroom to place the call. To her astonishment, she had received a spot to attend CHS next year. She was ecstatic. “I wanted it for a long time… I was so excited, I wanted to scream,” she says.

The news of her acceptance brought a wave of relief. Her fears of the rapidly growing Skyline had suddenly become irrelevant. “I went to a private school through middle school and it was a very small environment. If I would have stayed at Skyline, it would have kept getting bigger and bigger. It would have gotten overwhelming for me. Community is more similar to the smaller schools and learning style [that I am familiar with],” Schultz said.

Schultz’s new school brought certain privileges that her previous high school experience had been missing. “I was really excited to go to Community. The open campus had a lot to do with that,” she says. Aside from the new lunch arrangements came the bigger picture of what CHS had to offer. “I feel better at Community. I just feel more trusted and I feel like I can be more independent,” Schultz says. “Community allows you to experiment with responsibility and allows you to be more responsible for yourself. I don’t know if Skyline was really preparing us for anything like that.”

So far sophomore year has run smoothly. However, Schultz has yet to take advantage of all the opportunities CHS has to offer. “I’m not doing a CR this semester, but I’m really really excited to do one next semester,” she says. She also has yet to submerge herself in extra-curricular activities. “A lot of people have asked me to join the Ultimate Frisbee team,” Shultz says. While suppressing a giggle she continues, “I’m still considering that.”

When looking back at her previous high school, Schultz reflects, “It was a good experience. I know it’s going to be a good school. I guess it just wasn’t the right school [for me].” While commenting on CHS, she says, “I feel settled. I feel like I’m going to accomplish more, and it will just be a better experience overall.” C

The sharp slapping of anxious feet against young floors. A decision was to be made at Skyline High School that day. Meredith Steih, a freshman at Community High School, “was actually shaking” as she entered her meeting.

Thoughts and uncertainties running through her head, Steih sucked in a breath and sealed her fate. She would attend Skyline as a sophomore the next year, and there was no turning back. “At the time, I had been thinking about it so long I wanted it to be done with… I just spit the words out,” Steih recollects.

However, it was not an easy decision to be made. New adjustments would take place and transitions would span longer than Steih was anticipating. Replacing freedom with structure, adapting to trimesters and immersing herself in cliques once again would test Steih’s loyalty to her decision.

The basis of her decision stemmed from the difficulty of being caught between both schools and social groups. “The reason I switched was because I divided myself between the two schools. I was on the dance team… I was always at Skyline. I should have cut off all my connections at Skyline if I wanted to stay at Community,” says Steih.

The pull of her tight-knit group of middle school friends kept her from enjoying the aspects of CHS that she loved – such as the priceless bond forged between teacher and students. “I really loved the connection…” Steih said. “The teachers, they wanted you to want to learn. They wanted you to go to class. It was more of a real world situation. The work really felt worthwhile – more than busy work.”

The individual attention teachers at CHS devoted to their students would be altered to meet the needs of the majority.“[At Skyline], everything has to be so much more structured so they can pertain to the masses,” says Steih. However, the structure works for her. “I do better with structure, actually, ‘cause then I can give myself a time limit. I don’t even have the temptations to be where I’m like, oh, I don’t need to do this homework.”

Although structure compliments Steih’s learning style, a huge eye-opener for her was when she had to ask to go to the bathroom for the very first time. “…. It was weird, really weird,” she says. Steih then realized she was no longer at CHS.

With Skyline’s seventy-minute class periods, five classes per day squished into three trimesters a year, Steih must stay on track. Her schedule includes AP History, English Intensive and, soon, Algebra II AC, which leaves no room for slacking.

Skyline also offers many leadership opportunities for the underclassmen. Steih seizes those opportunities. She belongs to the JSA (Junior State of America) where she learns about government and debating. She also has a leadership role on the dance team and is considering potentially starting a club about raising awareness for teen suicide and depression.

At CHS, Steih had the same drive to be a leader of the school’s community, but she felt restricted pursuing these roles. “When I did model UN, I was always afraid of the upperclassmen…we’d let them do stuff because they’re older,” says Steih. “But here (at Skyline), we’re the ones who have to do it. So we’re not shy, we’re not just waiting until we’re seniors.”

Overall, Steih would say she is satisfied with her commitment to Skyline. She is compatible with the feel of the school and she is determined to make the most out of it. However, Steih’s weakness for CHS is still evident. “I feel like there’s always a little bit of regret, leaving something as beautiful as Community,” she says. This beauty’s hold on Steih has propelled her to look into dualling in the years to come.

When asked to sum up her views of both schools in one sentence Steih says, “Community would be the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland’s Golden Afternoon.” As for Skyline, “I’m still working on defining Skyline to myself.” C