338 Hicks Farm Rd
Staley, NC 27355

I’ll never forget how terrible my time was at this school. From the moment I stepped onto campus, it felt like I had walked into a prison disguised as a learning institution. It wasn’t just the crumbling walls or the broken lockers that made it feel that way—it was the total chaos that happened on a daily basis.Let’s start with the lunch. I don’t know what they were feeding us, but it sure didn’t qualify as food. Half the time, it was some mystery meat drowned in gravy that smelled like wet cardboard. The pizza? Rubber with ketchup. The milk was either warm or expired, and if you were lucky, you'd find something that wasn't growing mold. It got so bad people would skip lunch entirely or trade food like it was currency. I once saw someone swap a granola bar for three slices of bread. That’s how desperate we were.But the food wasn’t even the worst part. What really made this place feel out of control was what happened in the woods behind the school. The administration thought it was just a place for nature walks during gym, but everyone knew what it really was: the unofficial hangout spot for kids ditching class and doing things they absolutely shouldn’t have been doing. There were constant rumors about students sneaking off and getting "freaky" in the woods. Eventually, the rumors weren’t just rumors anymore. One day, two students were literally caught in the act by a teacher who went looking for a missing kid. After that, they tried to put up fences, but let’s be honest—those kids knew every hole in that place better than the teachers ever did.The worst part? The staff acted like they had no idea any of this was going on. Either they were too tired to care or too checked out to bother. Fights broke out weekly, the bathrooms smelled like something died in there, and the Wi-Fi never worked unless you were standing on top of a desk in the one classroom where the router sort of functioned.In the end, what was supposed to be a place for learning turned into a place most of us were just trying to survive. Between the awful lunches, the crazy drama in the woods, and the total lack of adult control, it’s safe to say this school was one of the worst places I’ve ever been. I learned more about chaos management than I ever did about math.

As a student at this school, I can personaly say that this isint the best school. I'm sure its net the worst. Most teachers are nice and fallow the lesson plans but what they need to teach is not what we need. We are not taking grade level courses. If you want to take a regular class then you need to sign up for honer classes. Really, the only classes I feel that helps me are the arts. I'm not going to grow up and ask someone " Hey, if I give you x many of y, how many times should we do this untill we get an equal amount?" My strong suits are English and science. I excel at my art corses because its the only way in our school we can be freely creative and show what we can do in a fun and entertaining way. Others might feel different from what I do baised on there own expereances. The only reason I'm in this school is because I would miss the friends I have made and because I live in the distric. The school has not prepared us for life or what else is yet to come. I am amazed at how low my fellow peers do in tests and other things while even that is below grade level. This school really let me down. The freedom we have at the school is not that strict but it still feels like soomeone is holding us down with an iron fist. Only letting us able to do small, petty things. Yet prevent us from doing others. "...If you judge a goldfish by its capibility to climb a tree it will live its whole life beliving its stupid" a quote of Einstein. I learn most stuff I need out of school. I read and travel the internet. In school if you are horribul at math, or you need more time than others, they do leave you behind. Its like that in outher courses I beleve so, but in math is were I always felt it. If you don't understand something but everyone else dies than the teachers and class make you feel stupid for not understanding. The school needs a lot of improvements and it needs it soon. If it doesn't then grades will continue to fall,, drop outs will incresse, and test grades will continue to drop. Thank you for your timeStudent of 2020