It’s a new school year, and with every new school year, another freshman class arrives at Miami High. Excited, scared, and filled with questions, the Class of 2020’s 752 freshmen arrived at Miami High on August 22.

“This school is beautiful. The campus is very unique,” said Marco Ramirez.

“I love how much freedom we have. During lunch time in middle school, we could only stay inside the cafeteria. Here we can go anywhere we’d like,” said Juliana Jaramillo. “Also, the school spirit here is unmatched.”

Expectations

Entering high school for the first time, the freshmen arrived with a lot of different feelings. “I was extremely scared; I expected people to bully me because of my small stature,” said Kevin Gomez. “I was wrong, however. People were nicer than I thought.”

Similarly, Amanda Reyes said, “I thought I was going to be bullied because everyone is so much bigger than me.”

Ernesto Bello didn’t know what to expect coming into Miami High. “All I knew was that the school was huge,” he said.

Marco Ramirez had no expectations either. “It was ‘whatever’ to me,” he said. “I’m just going to come here and do what I have to do.”

Some freshmen were very ambitious about their class’s potential. Juliana Jaramillo said, “I expected a community of students aiming for the same goals as me.” Diego Reyes expected a group of students willing to maximize their potentials.

Other freshmen had expectations that were not met. “I thought high school would be like the ones in the movies: lockers, preppy girls, and bullies, but it is nothing like that,” said Stephany Reyes.

Andre Williams envisioned himself garnering the attention of lots of girls. “I’m still working on it,” he said.

Teachers have different expectations for the Class of 2020. World History teacher Ms. Ubiera said, “I expect them to increase their ability to read and bring up their levels in reading, writing, and math so that they’re prepared for college and so that they can become good citizens of this country.”

World History teacher Mr. Tornillo said, “I just hope they don’t break the tablets like last year’s class.”

Why Miami High?

There are roughly 63 public high schools in Miami-Dade County. What makes students want to come to Miami High? “My parents came here years ago, and from what I’ve heard, Miami High is a great school,” said Emma Alonso.

Alondra Martinez came because Coral Gables put her on the waiting list. “So far, I don’t regret the decision,” she said.

“Miami High is the best school in Miami,” claimed Ernesto Bello. “My home school is Miami Jackson Senior High, but I got accepted into the teaching magnet here. I didn’t hesitate on my decision.”

Get Lost?

Compared to middle schools in the surrounding area, the Miami High campus is definitely much larger, which can be a huge problem for freshmen. Estibaly Garcia said, “I didn’t think it’d be hard to find classes like in middle school, but I was wrong; I got completely lost on the first day.”

Jose Torres said, “In Citrus Grove Middle School, there are only two buildings. It was overwhelming to see that there were 7 buildings here. I got lost several times.”

“I got really lost trying to get to my physical science class in third building,” said Arnold Suarez. “I never even got to class. I spent the entire period walking around.”

Similarly, Roberto Barahona said that he was 30 minutes late to his Spanish class. “I had trouble looking for the building numbers,” he said.

On the contrary, Emma Alonso didn’t find it challenging getting to her classes because she had her own little trick. “All of my classes were in one huge circle. All I had to do was start at point A and work my way around the circle,” she said.

Eddie Villatoro said that he didn’t have trouble getting around because his brother, senior Olvin Villatoro, showed him around the school during the summer.

Making Miami High Better

Despite Miami High’s beautiful campus and solid academic program, the school does have its flaws. One of the major issues that most freshmen complained about was the lunch lines. “They are way too long here. I started bringing my own lunch because of the lines,” said Allison Avila.

Camila Cabrera complained, “I could honestly spend the entire lunch time waiting in line. This needs to be fixed.”

Other freshmen complained about how little time students have to travel from class to class. Jose Garcia said, “I think the classes that they give us should be closer to each other. Sometimes I have to go from 7^th building to 2^nd building; they’re on complete opposite ends from each other.”

Nicolas Amaya said that the amount of time to get to each class should be extended to at least 7 or 8 minutes.