The numbers are in: once again, PV High’s enrollment for the 2014-2015 school year is not as high as we would like it to be. Although our numbers are up from last year, a large portion of this year’s class of incoming freshmen has still chosen not to attend our school. I would not go so far as to support those students’ decision, but after four years at PV, I do have some insight into some of our school’s flaws and how they might be resolved.

When I matriculated into PV High in the 9th grade, I was truly thrilled about the prospect of starting high school. In my mind, the next four years were a chance to explore my interests, challenge myself academically, and achieve big. And yet, although I think I have been successful enough to do those things in high school, I did not find PV to be as supportive as it could have been. As I was quick to discover here, this is a school where being “nerdy” and openly interested in academics not just defines you, but defines you in a negative way. In my freshman year, I found this out the hard way in my classes, in the hallways at lunch, and especially at cheer team practices, where I felt awkward as a bookish intellectual in a sea of more spirited types. When homecoming week came around and my cheer team was assigned the task of baking cookies for the school football players, I finally started to understand the deeper strata of PV’s social structure. In subsequent years, it has become increasingly clear to me: this is a school where athletics dominate.

When PV High re-opened in 2002, it was positioned as the more fun high school, the school that valued athletes. There is nothing wrong with sports and fun, but those elements should not be unduly focused on at the expense of academics. This year, under Principal Charles Park, PV is finally starting to show signs of leaving its sports obsession behind. However, as budget cuts hit home hard, classes and extracurriculars here seem to be under-funded, under-attended, and generally suffering. I wouldn’t be so concerned about the disproportionate amount of attention that our school pays to its sports programs if not for the lack of attention that it pays to its academics.

The signs are all around us, sometimes literally – just a few weeks ago, I was upset by the ignorance displayed when I walked around campus during Diversity Week and saw culturally stereotyping posters displayed all over the school grounds. A conversation with a student who led that effort only reinforced my fears of an internationally unaware student body when she made a comment about wanting to display “all five continents” with the posters. To clarify, there are seven continents on this planet. I feel concerned that some of my peers do not understand that.

Unsurprisingly, for many PV students, a lack of awareness in general begins with a lack of enthusiasm in class. I feel that this not a place where you want to be heard expressing interest in an academic subject, unless you are content to be labeled for having done so. Many students here are not interested in their schoolwork, which breeds an environment in which pupils are rude to teachers and rely on subversive methods in order to keep their GPAs high. Cheating is prevalent and popular in all its various forms here at PV High, but in my tenure at the school, I have not seen any effective attempts to stop the flow of trickery. In any given class, a large assignment’s due date will inevitably be accompanied by a flurry of students copying each others’ answers, but many teachers neither seem to notice nor mind, and those students who do are ostracized. Last year, I found this out the rough way when I was falsely accused of having reported several cheating students to a teacher. The icy glares that I received in the hallways reminded me of how prevalent cheating is here.

Meanwhile, I feel that some of the students that do put in effort into their schoolwork and extracurriculars are not recognized enough for their work. I have been a dutiful reporter for The Point, the school newspaper, for all of my four years here, and yet I recently passed a PV official in the hallway who inquired into my work on the school yearbook. Once again, to clarify, I have no involvement in the yearbook. I understand the incident was a minor one and that the school official was admittedly trying to reach out to me, but after four years of writing monthly articles for this magazine, I would have liked to receive some more positive confirmation of my work.

The only thing that PV students are unfailingly passionate about, as I have noticed, is school spirit. Nearly every student at the school is an active member of Red Tide, and the club’s apparel is worn more frequently than perhaps anything else on campus. And yet, although school officials too seem to support Red Tide unflaggingly, the organization, in my opinion, seems to be more effective at antagonizing other races than summing up support for school teams, as seen with the racial slurs that the group often uses as cheers. Add to that the fact that Red Tide frequents many more men’s than women’s games and you can guess why I never signed up. I have never felt comfortable supporting such a seemingly discriminatory group, even if the discrimination does happen under the guise of school spirit.

It’s not all bad – Palos Verdes certainly is a great school. Many of my teachers here have been excellent and the school’s wide resources have allowed me to partake in some great classes and clubs. All in all, I do not doubt that I received a strong education here. However, in hindsight, I merely wish that I were able to learn in a more academic-embracing and student-nurturing environment. I believe that if PV is to catch up to Pen in the near future, significant changes will need to be made to school culture, starting with shifting the focus – and the budget – back to the classroom. There are amazing teachers and students at Palos Verdes, but I’d like to see them not be overshadowed by athletics, stepping out into their own light instead. Maybe this year at our Open House, we can put the fancy popcorn and pep rallies away and show off what we really should be proud of: an amazing faculty, impressive resources, and a noteworthy student body.

Sincerely,

Grace Rehaut