The 10th of August; the very first day of school for Community High School students. The day was early and the sun burned brightly. The high-pitched squeal of tires of a large vehicle interrupted the eerie silence of 64th street and Mount Vernon. The long yellow bus stopped at the corner of the building and let out a large number of young men and women from different grades and different races.

Along with those students came obnoxious chattering, which ended the peaceful quietness of the neighborhood. Not all students took the yellow bus to school. Freshmen Ali Govani and his older sister, senior Ieshanoel Govani, arrived by the 76-citybus, which dropped them off on 68th street and Bluemound Road. Govani was not the only student experiencing something new. Many new students arrived with him. The school was in a new building. And, the school had a new “year-round” calendar. So, how has the new school year gone for the new kids?

The “Big Leap”
For Govani, the school year so far has been pretty good. He is a quiet student; he doesn’t really speak to anyone unless he is spoken to. Although quiet, Govani has an unusual advantage to making new friends. “The school year has been alright. It is easy to make friends since my brother used to go here.” An observer and hard worker, in class he does not mind if he sits alone by himself or by his friends.
“Being a freshmen is different from middle school. It is not really all that,” says Ali. “In middle school I was top grade, so becoming a freshmen was a big leap.”

Scouting the halls
Most students usually take their time in the halls, meeting their friends and making stops in the bathroom. But they are not the only ones lurking in the halls; staffs watch over the young children, making sure that drama does not exist in the halls or classrooms. Roxane Mayeur, a staff member at CHS, says, “This has been a mixed beginning. We have many students who are ready to learn and many who have attitudes.” Mayeur, who has had a good school year so far, expects everything from all students and knows things will get better. “The staff is working hard to recognize the students who are making the right decisions and reward them with opportunities.”
The student body is a majority of freshmen. Young students whose minds are still in the process of maturing. What do they think about the other students? “They’re pretty nice,” says Govani. “I stay away from the ones who influence me to do the wrong things.”

New to Milwaukee
Students are not the only ones wandering the halls confused. There are teachers who are new and who are not familiar with the goals of CHS. For some, this is their first year of teaching. “The school is great. I think it is going well,” says Jonathan Moe-Lobeda, the new algebra teacher at CHS. “Coming into school 2-3 weeks later, things got a little crazy.” Moe-Lobeda is a new teacher in MPS, but is getting the hang of how things work. His goals for the school year are getting every grade in his class up to an 80% average or higher, and to really make sure he is familiar with the Milwaukee Public Schools curriculum for algebra one.
He is also getting how things work at CHS and is getting along with the other staff members. “The staff is good. Once they realize some things then the school will change.”
CHS underwent many changes through out the years; this year will be the biggest change of it all. New students, new teachers and a new building, CHS has evolved through the years it’s been in business.