New students in school always have some sort of story behind them. Where they came from, why they changed schools, how it felt to leave old friends and have to make new ones. Chloe Moore, a new 11th grade student at Burnt Hills High School this year, has an especially interesting story, since she has experienced three types of schooling in the Capital Region; public, private, and homeschooling.
From the beginning of the interview, Moore made it clear that Burnt Hills has been her favorite school thus far. She claimed that for the first time in her life, she actually likes school. Perhaps this is because ever since she can remember, she has been constantly pressuring her parents into letting her go to a more public school.
“My parents home schooled me first because my two older sisters had bad experiences in public elementary school. So when my mom first tried it, she liked it and decided to homeschool me,” Moore explained, still a little bitter that she was stuck at home for more than half her education. She claimed she was not satisfied with homeschooling while her sisters were because, “They’re hermit crabs and they have no lives and they’re antisocial.”
When asked what she liked and disliked about homeschooling, Moore quickly confirmed that there were no pros. “Actually,” she corrected, “you get to wake up whenever you want. But I had no friends.”
In seventh grade, Moore finally convinced her parents to let her go to Mekeel Christian Academy. She liked learning with other kids and made more friends than she’d ever had, but after a few years she began to feel that 300 students, K through 12 was not a big enough school.”Everyone’s like family,” she remembered. “But everyone’s up your butt and in your business.”
After dealing with the same kids in her classes and the same teachers each year, Moore began to grow tired of the small, tight-knit community that was Mekeel. “I wanted a bigger school and I hated everyone there,” she said and while this may have been an exaggeration, her pastor father finally allowed her to go Burnt Hills her junior year.
From the first day of school, Moore could tell Burnt Hills was much different than Mekeel. She claimed it to be a “totally different atmosphere” and that, “the way the school worked was just different”. She was surprised and pleased with her anonymity and the lack of both teacher and student interference in her life that had been part of the reason she left Mekeel.
Even after only experiencing a couple months at her new school, Moore said that there were too many pros to name. “The only con,” she said thoughtfully, “would be its very intimidating.” Moore remembers being daunted by such a large school with a large student population on her first few days. “You could say [making friends] was a little easier at Mekeel because there was a lot less of them,” she confirmed. Moore is a natural people person, however, and making friends anywhere is easy for her.
One of the many advantages Moore has seen since coming to Burnt Hills, is an improvement in her grades. “BH is a little easier; not as high stress as Mekeel. And I like it better all around so it gives me more motivation to do well in school,” She explained. Perhaps Moore also believes that if her grades are poor, her parents may revoke her public school privilege.
Although obvious from the interview, Moore confirmed her public school preference when she said she would definitely send her children to one. “ Why would I ever put them through private school, waste my money on that?” Chloe Moore’s story seems to provide evidence that homeschooling or private schooling are not necessary for a quality education or a good high school experience.
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