Catch Me

Alexandria: The School

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the prestigious Marble High School of Musical Arts. The high school is a private school that gives you the basic education (Math, ELA, Science, etc.) but focuses on Music. Band Classes, Honor Choir, and Advanced Dance aren't exploratories, but actual periods and some of the many great opportunities there. The best part? You don't have to audition! You just have to pay the fee. However, they do give you a test. Your results will separate you into one of the 5 categories: Dance, Instruments, Rap, Singing, or Newbie. Nobody wants to get newbie. That means you're bad at everything and they can't decide which one you should go to so they school you in everything. But some people (like me) have what they call "side categories," because you scored high in other categories as well. For example, my category is Dance, but my side categories are singing and rap. In a sense, side categories and newbies are very similar, except that side categories are something you can take pride in, and being labeled a newbie is a straight-up embarrassment. I can also play the clarinet, but I'm not good enough to get instruments as a side category. Thank goodness! Singing and Rap are enough. For a visual example, here's my schedule: 1st Period: Math 2nd Period: Advanced Dance 3rd Period: ELA 4th Period: Choir 5th Period: Lunch 6th Period: Homeroom 7th Period: Science 8th Period: Rap 9th Period: Social Studies School starts at 6:30 a.m and ends at 2:00 p.m, but most students don't go home until 4:00 p.m because they have individual vocal/dance/rap/instruments lessons, they want to practice in the various recording studios and practice rooms, or they just want to study in the library. Or their part of a Produce Group. Produce Groups are very special and the pride of our school. They make our school one of a kind and everyone wants to be part of them, How it works is when you are a junior or senior, you are considered eligible for auditioning. You can audition with whatever, singing, dancing, or rap (instruments aren't a part of it), but you have to know 2 of the 3 listed above and one of those 2 has to be dance. In the end, the teachers, principal, and staff choose 5 of the most talented students, a mixture of dancers, singers, and rappers who are now considered our school's elite. There are 4 groups, a girl group for Juniors, a boy group for Juniors, a girl group for Seniors, and a boy group for Seniors. You're probably wondering, does that mean when the Juniors become Seniors will they have to audition again, or when the Seniors graduate will they disband? The answer is no to both those questions. Once you become part of a Produce Group as a Junior, you become your own separate little group. So basically, when the Juniors of the Junior Group become seniors, they're not known as the Senior Produce Group, they are known as whatever name they have chosen. That way everyone has 2 chances. The seniors, when they graduate, can choose to disband and go to college or stay together. This might seem like a little thing, but last year's produce group, Bling, got to go to the Billboard Music Awards. They are currently bigger than Fifth Harmony. Last year's Junior Produce Group, Blitz, disbanded due to members being involved in a drug scandal. This year, the Seniors and Juniors are more determined than ever to join in on Bling's success. And I plan to audition today.