That may be the oldest building but it looks extremely well built and well laid out. It has four floors. How many students go there?
A building that size. Surely there were 10 minutes to class perhaps with a warning bell perhaps at the 8th minute to let students know to get into high gear to get to class. I don’t see how students could get from fourth to first floor.
Were the classes arranged by grade level or subject. It seems it would be less student movement if most the the 9th grade courses were together, 10th grade together instead of all the math together and all the English together etc.
The cafeteria: Is big enough to house the entire student body at the same time or were there staggered lunch breaks and how did they do that. Did the day start at the same time for every student?
I was lead to believe that all students had three classes lunch and then three classes. That is ideal if it can be done. The cafeteria when you were at school would allow all the students to eat lunch at the same time! That is something! [
This is nothing like attending the high school I attended that had 150 students in grades 9-12.
It looks like there is room for the students to stand there on the steps in front of the building – all of them if necessary.
Very good questions, and more so from a person coming out of such a small high school. When I went through high school and attended El Paso High, we had six periods a day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon, one hour lunch. The year after I graduated, the school district went to two hour classes, which I do not know how they get that to work,
The time between classes was just like any high school, five minutes. Which means you couldn’t fool around in the halls between the classes. The grades were not divided up. What I mean is that each floor held certain classes, for example the fourth floor was mostly the science classes. Remember the part in the story when Jacob went into the science class and got the cat and through it off the roof for a joke, that actually happened. That was because the science classes were on the fourth floor. So through out the day a student was going up and down the stairs to get to their classes. That is why you read my characters getting all their books for the morning classes right before first period. You just didn’t have time to go to your locker between classes and get books for each class.
Lunch periods there were only two when I went through. Later I heard it got to three lunch periods before they built in new building that now is the cafeteria and the library. Don’t ask me what they did with the old cafeteria, because I do not know. Almost the entire bottom floor was the cafeteria, with a few classes when I went through. I am figuring they turned the old cafeteria into classrooms, but don’t quote me on that.
There was a zero period for those students that were behind on credits or wanted to get ahead on credits. In order to graduate you needed to have 21 credits at the lowest and you could get 24 credits at the highest when I went through. Their were required classes such as, 4 years of English, 1 year of history, science, and biology, a semester of economics, health and government, a year and a half of PE, three years of math courses, and on and on. If you didn’t take one of these classes, you wouldn’t graduate even if you had the credits to graduate.
When I was a tenth grader, the school district put into effect a new rule called the 90-day rule. If you missed more then 90 days in a semester, you would lose your credit to the class. Even if you passed the class with a 100, you wouldn’t get the credit, without the credit you cannot graduate. After I graduated they added to that rule with attendance police. If a student wasn’t at school, they went to make sure the student was sick. If the student is ditching or the parent isn’t making sure their child is going to school they would get a summons to go to court. Now I do not know what happens to them when they go to court though.
I hope I answered your concerns on this, if not, please throw another comment here and I will answer it as soon as I can.
Neat school. Wish I could remember all that Jacob does about his high school. I graduated in the late ’60s and I couldnt tell you how many lunch periods there were. I do remember that we also had four floors but I cheated and and talked a janitor friend into a first floor locker to go along with my third floor locker. Life was easier that way. There were not as many high schools back then so I had over 900 kids in my graduating class. There were close to 3000 total kids in the school. Heck, I was in band and we had 150 members in the marching band.
Jacob and Joey were going to Austin High at the time of the shooting. At the time there was a street right in front of Austin High. There is not now if you are looking at a map.
That may be the oldest building but it looks extremely well built and well laid out. It has four floors. How many students go there?
A building that size. Surely there were 10 minutes to class perhaps with a warning bell perhaps at the 8th minute to let students know to get into high gear to get to class. I don’t see how students could get from fourth to first floor.
Were the classes arranged by grade level or subject. It seems it would be less student movement if most the the 9th grade courses were together, 10th grade together instead of all the math together and all the English together etc.
The cafeteria: Is big enough to house the entire student body at the same time or were there staggered lunch breaks and how did they do that. Did the day start at the same time for every student?
I was lead to believe that all students had three classes lunch and then three classes. That is ideal if it can be done. The cafeteria when you were at school would allow all the students to eat lunch at the same time! That is something! [
This is nothing like attending the high school I attended that had 150 students in grades 9-12.
It looks like there is room for the students to stand there on the steps in front of the building – all of them if necessary.
Caleb,
Very good questions, and more so from a person coming out of such a small high school. When I went through high school and attended El Paso High, we had six periods a day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon, one hour lunch. The year after I graduated, the school district went to two hour classes, which I do not know how they get that to work,
The time between classes was just like any high school, five minutes. Which means you couldn’t fool around in the halls between the classes. The grades were not divided up. What I mean is that each floor held certain classes, for example the fourth floor was mostly the science classes. Remember the part in the story when Jacob went into the science class and got the cat and through it off the roof for a joke, that actually happened. That was because the science classes were on the fourth floor. So through out the day a student was going up and down the stairs to get to their classes. That is why you read my characters getting all their books for the morning classes right before first period. You just didn’t have time to go to your locker between classes and get books for each class.
Lunch periods there were only two when I went through. Later I heard it got to three lunch periods before they built in new building that now is the cafeteria and the library. Don’t ask me what they did with the old cafeteria, because I do not know. Almost the entire bottom floor was the cafeteria, with a few classes when I went through. I am figuring they turned the old cafeteria into classrooms, but don’t quote me on that.
There was a zero period for those students that were behind on credits or wanted to get ahead on credits. In order to graduate you needed to have 21 credits at the lowest and you could get 24 credits at the highest when I went through. Their were required classes such as, 4 years of English, 1 year of history, science, and biology, a semester of economics, health and government, a year and a half of PE, three years of math courses, and on and on. If you didn’t take one of these classes, you wouldn’t graduate even if you had the credits to graduate.
When I was a tenth grader, the school district put into effect a new rule called the 90-day rule. If you missed more then 90 days in a semester, you would lose your credit to the class. Even if you passed the class with a 100, you wouldn’t get the credit, without the credit you cannot graduate. After I graduated they added to that rule with attendance police. If a student wasn’t at school, they went to make sure the student was sick. If the student is ditching or the parent isn’t making sure their child is going to school they would get a summons to go to court. Now I do not know what happens to them when they go to court though.
I hope I answered your concerns on this, if not, please throw another comment here and I will answer it as soon as I can.
Thanks,
J.P.G.
Neat school. Wish I could remember all that Jacob does about his high school. I graduated in the late ’60s and I couldnt tell you how many lunch periods there were. I do remember that we also had four floors but I cheated and and talked a janitor friend into a first floor locker to go along with my third floor locker. Life was easier that way. There were not as many high schools back then so I had over 900 kids in my graduating class. There were close to 3000 total kids in the school. Heck, I was in band and we had 150 members in the marching band.
I went to El Paso High too 🙂 class of ’05. Thanks for posting the pictures. Living in Florida now and I get homesick sometimes.
Where did Jacob get shot? It can’t be near the front doors…I don’t get it.
Jacob and Joey were going to Austin High at the time of the shooting. At the time there was a street right in front of Austin High. There is not now if you are looking at a map.
plese give mail id of el paso high school
800 E. Schuster Avenue
El Paso, Texas 79902
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Paso_High_School