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What makes Winchester High School such a special place? Is it the academics that have placed it 23rd among the state’s 351 schools? Is it the championship sports teams and athletes who have made it to the Hall of Fame?
Yes, it’s all that, but so much more. At least that’s what the students who attend the school say.
“Winchester High School is a very supportive place,” said Slate Morrison, a junior. “Yes, Winchester High School is a very competitive place and everyone wants to go to a good college…but it’s also a supportive place. I know I can go talk to my teachers about my weekend or about the stress of college applications.”
Senior Jake Tempesta calls the school “a community.”
“There is a sense of community,” he said. “You walk the halls and you know everyone. You’ve grown up with these kids your whole life. And there’s a lot of support from your teachers and programs to help you succeed.”
Sophomore Maddy Chong feels that sense of support.
“[There’s] such a good community at WHS,” she said. “There are so many opportunities. I feel like you have to take the initiative to try things. There’s an abundance of opportunities and you can truly build your own opportunities.”
Success, say the six, is top of mind, but all agree there are many paths to that goal.
“It’s very individual,” said Isabella Bogovich, a junior. “You need to stay on top of your studies and get things done.”
And, she added, there are plenty of people — teachers, administrators, staffers and yes, even the lunch lady — who can be there to ease the fears and anxieties.
“I find this is a school where I can talk to trusted adults and feel like people have your back,” Bogovich said. “Maybe you don’t have the issues someone else has, but I love my guidance counselor. She has helped me with classes and with things, academically.”
Senior Meher Shahrawt agrees Winchester is competitive, but adds there are safety nets in place for all students.
“It’s academically rigorous,” she said. “But it is true that the staff want to see you be successful, especially the teachers. I feel like 100%, they have your back. I push myself as a student and I’ve had times where I’ve been anxious, but I’ve found it’s important that I have the support of my teachers.”
Chong enjoys the freedom the school provides its students.
“Teachers in elementary school are always looking after you, but in middle school you don’t get babied as much and at the high school, you’re not babied at all. People here ask you how you’re doing, they really notice if you struggle.”
Freshman Patrick Winn said last year, students at the McCall Middle School, received “the presentation,” where teachers stressed finding a balance at the high school between academics and student life.
“The presentation was about not taking more than two honors classes,” Winn said. “I don’t take any, but it was stressed that it’s good to find a balance with school work and other school stuff. I get that now. It’s important to find a balance.”
The balance
So, what’s the balance? Academics? Sports? Extra curriculars? What makes the perfect school to student life ratio?
For students, it’s that there’s no difference between the grades. They’re all in it together.
“There’s no divide,” said Morrison. “When you go to high school, you expect that there will be a great divide [between grades]. But I have lunch with the whole school and I have classes that aren’t the main core with other students.”
Tempesta agreed.
“I take three classes with people in different grades,” he said. “I hang with freshmen and sophomores, as a senior. Activities bring everyone together so you find there’s not a huge divide.”
And sports, added Chong, is also a huge factor. She’s on the swimming team.
“I’m on the football team,” Winn said. “I met a lot of other people before school even started. I was afraid of the stereotypes where freshmen got bullied, but over the summer, I met a lot of upper classmen and they were great. It really made me feel better.”
Students add they feel safe in school, whether it’s physically or socially.
“I know people in [other communities] who say they see a lot of fights,” Tempesta said. “But I’ve never seen a fight [at WHS]. We don’t have that here.”
And there are protocols students follow inside the school.
“There’s a sense of safety here,” Morrison said. “You’re only allowed in the main doors and we have our ID scanned. I know how things are, but I feel confident in the steps WHS has taken to keep us safe.”
What they wish for
If the school meets their expectations, what do these students wish for? What would they like to see added in terms of programs or classes?
“There’s no need,” Morrison said. “If you want to take anything, it’s here. There are so many options.”
But when pushed for an answer, they laugh and add: A hockey rink, a swimming pool, tennis courts and more equipment for sports teams. They say they are more worried their friends and classmates are forced to practice in non-Winchester facilities.
“The main thing would be a rink,” Tempesta said. “The players have to go to other towns and that just eats up time.”
Winn added the logistics are tough for players.
“The hockey team can’t leave their bags anywhere,” he said. “They have to carry their bags in and out when they practice. There’s no rink or a locker room.”
What’s next?
It’s October and there’s a lot of year left for these six students. Where do they see themselves when June comes?
“I don’t have a plan,” Bogovich said. “I think a lot about what I want to do. I think about the future. There are a lot of resources here that will allow me to experiment with what I might want to do in the future and I feel like I can always talk to my guidance counselor if I need to.”
Morrison also doesn’t have a plan.
“I tend to stress about stuff,” Morrison said. “But I don’t want to make plans or freak out. I want to take active steps.”
Tempesta jumps in with advice for the two juniors.
“There are people here who can walk you through those steps,” he said. “They can help you get where you want to go.”
That’s good news for Chong, who has been listening to the upper classmen.
“I agree with what they all have to say,” she said. “A lot of people feel a little lost, but there are things you can do. There are a lot of clubs here and a lot of ways you can explore yourself and your own interests.”
And, she added, it’s great to have people who are juniors and seniors who can also help.
“I think we look up to them,” she said, of the upper classmen. “We see the example they set. They show us that they can be happy and you can follow in their footsteps.”
For Winn, the knowledge there are people who have been through the same things he’s experiencing and come out the other end is a relief.
“I haven’t been here long enough to know, but I hear what they’re all saying,” he said. “I feel that overall, my high school experience hasn’t been that bad.
“I feel like when I hear all this, I still feel a bit anxious,” Winn added. “But when I listen to what they say…well, I know I can talk to my guidance counselor if I need to and I know that there are people who can help you along the way.”
Morrison reminds everyone that “it’s easy to succeed at Winchester” if you put your mind to it and use the resources available.
“I know I’m not eager to leave,” Tempesta said. “So far, I’ve had a good year and I’m content with where I am. I could be here for more years and not take the same class twice. There are so many options here.”
The news that students are comfortable, safe and eager to be at Winchester High School is not surprising news to Principal Dennis Mahoney, but it’s a sense of satisfaction of a job well done by his staff.
“I couldn’t have more pride about that,” Mahoney said. “I love that, but I don’t take it for granted. If I heard that the kids didn’t like it, that would hurt because we put so much into our efforts.”
