Sequoyah students, parents, and staff members have mixed feelings about the Sequoyah High School. According to parents and teachers, there is not enough details about the Sequoyah High School given from the administration. Many younger students would want to go to the Sequoyah High School, whereas older students would not want to.
Most older students, the ones who are applying to high schools this year or next year, would not want to go to the Sequoyah High School. 7th grade Junior Higher Quinn Neubert said that, “no, I don’t think I would [go to the Sequoyah high school]. I love Sequoyah, but high school, I think, is supposed to be a new experience.” Lucy King, 8th grade Junior High student and Student Government Co President, said that she “would not go to a Sequoyah High School because it is not really Sequoyah, it’s going to be disconnected; not the Sequoyah I know.”
Momo Moran, 8th grade Junior High student pointed out that “Sequoyah is in major debt already. Why is there going to be a high school?” After Sequoyah’s Upper expansion, Sequoyah has gone into further debt than it already was in. Sequoyah is also trying to buy the current Sequoyah campus from CalTrans.
The younger students seem to want to go to a Sequoyah High School. Treehouse student, Jacob Deno Jr. said that “Yes,” he would go to a Sequoyah High School, “because it is Sequoyah. I have been here since I was young.” Egrets Perch student Zoella Gullo said that “Yes,” she would go to a Sequoyah High School, “because I love Sequoyah.”
Some parents of older student at Sequoyah had input on whether they think their children would attend the Sequoyah High School.
Jill McArthur, parent of Junior High student Flannery Clark, said that she would not send Flannery there “because I feel like she needs to get into a larger environment that offers a different type of education than she’s had for the last ten years. And that’s really the only reason; it’s not because I don’t think the school wouldn’t be good or anything it’s really just that I feel like it’s important for kids to make a change, a big change.”
Nicole Rabaudi, parent of Egrets Perch student Max Rabaudi, said that, “I need to know more about it, I think there’s not been a lot of information about exactly how its going to operate. And so I think that I definitely want to gather as much information as possible and see if he’s interested. I do want a big high school experience for Max, because he likes to play sports and do things like that. So, I’m not sure, but I think it might be a good fit, I just need to know more.”
Teachers and staff have mixed feelings about the high school. Junior High teacher Kristen Moore said, “for many many years I have noticed that on this end of the LA area, we are missing a school like that. There are some on the west end, and parents typically don’t want to make that commute. So, I’m always excited to have another high school opportunity for our students to choose from. I would hope that it would continue with the Sequoyah values and type of education. I would also hope that it would, and I’m sure it will, but certainly be aware of everything that needs to happen for a student in order to gain admission to a college that he or she wants to go to. And we’ve certainly made that happen here at the K-8 school, and looking at high schools I’m sure that will happen with college.”
Moore continues to say that she would not push 8th grade Sequoyah students to go to the High School, and instead she would help them figure out a High School that would best fit their individual needs. If the best high school for the student would be the Sequoyah High School, she would recommend them to go there.
Over There teacher Chandy Shair said that, “the high school doesn’t affect me because I will be here. Change is difficult. It’s hard to know until it’s built. They should be more open about this to the public.”
It’s hard to know whether or not students would attend the High School because we do not know how long it will take, or when it will start being built (if it has to be). Most students and parents will be unsure about whether or not they would go to a Sequoyah High School because the administration has not given much detail or information about it. As Momo Moran pointed out earlier, the school just spent a lot of money on the expansion, which may have an effect on the High School and/or the purchase of the current Sequoyah campus.
