How are last year’s 8th graders doing in high school?
By staff writer Waverley Achacoso
Last year’s graduating 8th graders have gone on to attend several different high schools this year. We decided to check up on them and see how they are doing.
Two current Alameda High School freshmen who graduated from Bay Farm’s 8th grade, Rowan Esquer and Emily Rutherford, say they think AHS is a great school to go to. It did, however, take some adjustments.
Rutherford said it took her about three weeks to get used to it, but Esquer said she got used to it quickly. They had to learn when to change classes, determine when it was the right time to get something out of their lockers, deal with the large number of students attending AHS, and figure out block schedule on Tuesdays to Thursdays, which is when there are only four longer classes a day. Mondays and Fridays are six classes a day, one hour per class.
They say that homework in 9th grade is about as much homework as they got in 8th grade. “You get a lot of homework at times, but block schedule is a lifesaver — you don’t have to do your homework one day if you don’t have it the next,” Rutherford said.
The two girls say they like the events that go on at AHS. Spirit days are held on some Fridays, like Breast Cancer Awareness Day and LGBTQ Pride. Pep rallies for the sports teams and the plays are also very fun. Everyone shows their Hornet Pride at AHS, making it a fun and busy place to be.
Rutherford said she is enjoying AHS more than Bay Farm, “but that’s only because I spent so much time adjusting at Bay Farm to be ready for high school when I came,” she said.
Esquer, on the other hand, can’t seem to decide which school she likes better. “They’re both amazing schools, and I’m honored to have attended Bay Farm and to be currently attending Alameda High,” she said.
Esquer and another 2015 Bay Farm graduate, Gabe Manibusan, have both returned to Bay Farm to speak to Middle School Committee parents and students about their transitions to high school. Manibusan now attends Alameda Science & Technology Institute (ASTI). More graduates may be invited back to Bay Farm to give talks to current 8th graders.
The Dolphin Tail, Voice of Bay Farm Middle School 