A brief review of Fargo North

When I first walked into Fargo North over three years ago, I was afraid. I was unsure of who I was, what I wanted to do with my life, or what the world in its entirety was like. To this day, I still have more to learn about myself and the world, but a tremendous amount of progress has been made in the last four-ish years. To some extent, I thank Fargo North for getting me to this point. From getting me interested in writing to helping me find friends, I am incredibly thankful for the community that we have on the Northside.

If you have been even remotely close to me at any given time, you know that I am a harsh critic of our administration at North. I have written satire about the food policy, wrote an argumentative article against the ‘phone ban’ (which never got published), and ran a satirical twitter account that often poked fun at what I viewed as administrative overreach. I will never apologize for these things, but I now realize that not every moment is a moment made to be critical. Now that I graduate in less than ten days, so I think its time to give up the criticism and celebrate what makes North great. Here is a down to earth review of Fargo North High School, its students, and its teachers.

Academics: North is great within the realm of academics because you can make your schedule as hard or easy as you want it to be. Part of me does wish that North would make its non-AP classes harder, but I know that’s within the power of the district, not the school. If I had known earlier that AP classes were often easier than their busy-work filled counterparts, I would have taken a lot more AP classes and tests. Another problem with Fargo Public School’s curriculum is that we don’t have any honors classes. If I could have taken freshman English, biology, chemistry, or Algebra 2 as an honors class, I would have. But again, I know that is not within the power of North’s administration.

Academics rating – 8.5/10

            Teachers: North’s teachers are incredible. Sure, some teachers may give you a hard time or not bump up your grade at the end of a semester, but that’s not a reason to hate them. I have liked every single teacher I have had at North, even if I didn’t like their teaching style or the class they taught. Nearly every teacher at North encourages their students to strive for excellence.

Teachers rating – 10/10

            Diversity/Students: Of course, North is fairly white. As the borders expand southward, our homogenous student body will slowly become more diverse, which is a good thing. Students at North are in a bubble. For the most part, we are white and upper-middle class. When students at North have their world-view questioned, they face a wall of confusion. We have it pretty dang good compared to how other students even in North Dakota do. But not realizing that you are in a bubble is the worst kind of ignorance. For the most part, students are thoughtful and intelligent, but not open to diversity or change. Little has been done within the realm of diversity training, which is essential as North becomes more cultured.

The students themselves at North are kind, at least to a point. If you’re new here, people aren’t going to introduce themselves to you and ask you if you want to be their friend, but they won’t bully you or harass you. If you stick to yourself at North, nobody will bother you for the most part. Most bullying happens within a friend circle, at least from what I have experienced and seen.

Diversity/Students rating – 6/10

            Of course I have glanced over a few things. Our sports/activities programs are good, we have an above average amount of student resources, and it feels safe here. I think that repeating these things over a paragraph would be redundant, since there isn’t much to say about these topics in particular.

Fargo North students really have it better than the average student across the country. That is no excuse to be complacent about the state of education however. Recognize what we have without ignoring the problems that impact our school, and we will make the school better for all of its students and faculty.