I attended FHS from 2001-2005 and was part of the group of students who transitioned from being Fremont High School to Fremont Federation the community of smaller schools. The idea was terrible as the education system did not improve, as it worsened. My freshman year, the school was as one and students could take classes from other academies easily. FHS was probably the smallest H.S. in OUSD at the time and they broke off into smaller departments.
While this intended to improve students' educational experience by giving them a feel for choosing majors and having staff more catered to their academy, this break off resulted into different academies struggling for resources, thus damaging the quality of education students like myself received.
Each academy was treated as a small school of its own and as the years progressed, classes began to get more crowded. Students were not able to take classes necessary to get ahead in college.
For example, the break off resulted in the loss of the French program and I did not get an opportunity to waive my foreign language requirement in college because my inability to take it for a third year at "Fremont Federation." No staff ever guided me to an alternative despite my addressing the issue. In addition, I was not able to take AP courses as they were not offered. Instead I was one of three students who received independent HP course studies, with no opportunity for AP nor the AP tests to waive any classes in college. Moreover, the separation resulted in a struggle when I had to take pre-calculus in my 11th grade year as it was not offered in my academy. I had to go through a long process of networking in order to take it at another academy. Staff preferred not having their students take courses at another academy to maintain their independent status I assume.
During the "Fremont High School" times, there was not a lot of separation and students were more united because of their identity as one school. However having different academies made way for stupid and senseless rivalry, with students thinking they were better than others by academy association - not even for their personal academic successes (or lack thereof?).
A lot of the curriculum was dumbed down for every student to accommodate those did not have the skills expected for the average high schooler. We learned little to nothing essential as most classes were filled with conversations with teachers complaining about the school system. In the classes where teachers did teach, they were very slow paced and too easy.
While I understand that there are students who were not native English speakers, it would have been wise to accommodate them with the appropriate curriculum to not put those who knew English on a stand still point in their educational endeavors.
This is not to say that those who did not have a second language were proficient in English. On the contrary - many of these people did not even know the basics of grammar and spelling that are essential for everyday life. Many students could not write an effective argumentative essay or research paper. We were not taught how to think critically about material.
As a student, I do feel like the system just gave up on us all together. Many people who graduated did not deserve to graduate in comparison to what other schools have nationwide. It is a shame that the system allows people who do not have basic knowledge of written English, math, or science to graduate. All they cared about was getting people in and out with no regards to actual teaching and learning.
Because I graduated I thought I could handle college, but I did not receive the proper skills to properly compete with my schoolmates at university. Even as a valedictorian of my academy, I had struggles in college due to the failure of my former school's system. I wish I could have learned more, but I was very unaware of what was beyond.
On the bright side, there are teachers who are aware of these issues and would like to change them. I understand the difficulties of working within a school system underfunded and neglected by the government. These issues should raise awareness of how much help inner city schools need. read more
