Starting high school as a freshman can be both exciting and daunting at the same time. A new school, new classmates, and new teachers can lead to high expectations for those wanting a fresh start. Sometimes those expectations are met, and sometimes they aren’t.
Granite Hills High School received a new crop of a whopping 269 students for the 2025-26 school year. Hopefully, all 269 of them will walk down the aisle for graduation in 2029.
Of the 269 incoming freshmen, 63 percent are involved in one of the three pathways on campus or AVID. This year, the Law, Justice, and Ethics Pathway gained 81 new students, the Academy of Careers in Education welcomed 35 students, the CODE pathway welcomed 30 students, and AVID added 24 new students. That leaves 99 non-pathway students.
The Dean of Counseling, Mrs. Zarco, says it’s important and beneficial to students who are in pathways and AVID. She said many opportunities are brought to students’ attention to help them gain new skills and be college-ready.
“You’ll get internship opportunities, workshops, conferences, and other things of that nature,” Mrs. Zarco said. “It helps build your leadership and preparedness for college and career.”
Freshman Denesis Lemus has enjoyed her first month of high school. She loves that she has met new people to connect with and the opportunities that she has before her.
“My first month has been really good,” Lemus said. “I feel like I have a lot of people to talk to.”
Karla Garcia, also a freshman, said she was excited coming into high school and ready to meet new people. She likes the school and how the clubs she’s in allow her to meet new people.
“It was really fun getting to know everyone and seeing new faces since I’ve always seen the same faces throughout all my school years,” Garcia said.
Granite Hills junior Natalie Hernandez believes that getting involved is important to make the most of your high school experience. She encourages students to take risks because it can lead to bigger opportunities.
“Put yourself out there even though it’s maybe out of your comfort zone,” Hernandez said. “There’s always someone out there that’ll agree with something you like.”
Adjusting to a new environment can be difficult, but the Class of ‘29 is ‘killing it’ with getting involved at Granite Hills
“The freshmen seem like a strong group. We haven’t really had a whole lot of behavior issues,” Mrs.Zarco said. “We see a lot of involvement. They are dressing up for spirit days and things like that, so I think that things are going pretty well.”
Mr. Bravo and Mr. Marquez have taken on the task of being the class advisors for the Class of 2029, and they hope to have a good time with the new crop of freshmen. They said, “They are going to party like it’s 2029.”
