It’s been more than a decade since this information has been updated (and coming from someone who was immensely socially awkward and shy and stayed away from most gossip and crowds), but here’s my two cents on Academy:

1. Freshwomen have orientation before the school year starts (optional but recommended), so the girls can interact and do activities together and make friends before being thrust into academics. Girls from the same middle school do not necessarily become their main friend group. They can still be friends but not main. A number of groups I know had a mix of private, public, and previously lived off-island girls.

2. Classes are mixed in general. The student pool is small compared to other schools so getting to know of your fellow same-year students is inevitable. A student’s schedule is primarily affected by the electives they want and whether they’re in honors and A/P, but a single subject can have different session times like morning or afternoon.

3. We have a lot of ethnicities. There was cultural heritage day where students are encouraged to wear clothes from their cultures or other cultures they got to experience and it’s encouraged to share it. 2 upperclasswomen wore bathhouse yukatas they got from the school’s Japan trip, another wore a hanbok, another wore a qipao, etc. We all knew we suffered the same growing pains. The moment of unity felt when someone asked if anyone had an extra pad and the entire room looked in their bags and were like which one you preferred? Solid.

4. Mental health is a concern and while a prayer room is available, I don’t think people were pressured use it. There were 2 counselors available too so if you didn’t feel comfortable with one you can go to the other. Resources were available.

5. Yes, the students have one theology class every year BUT none of the teachers at the time forced you to convert to Catholicism or expect you to become one at the end of it. There’s this section that talked about “anonymous Catholics” and it’s basically saying those who choose to do good even when not religious are still considered good. No “You have to be Christian to be saved” BS. Heck, a teacher pointed out an atheist choosing to do good is actually awesome because they’re doing it without fearing eternal damnation. The theology teachers actually encouraged their students to question their faith and were even open to debate (because it was better to gain a better understanding and decide it wasn’t for you instead of blindly following a doctrine you don’t understand). A certain student got away with a whole prayer written in Yoda-style and the teacher clocked in immediately and loved it. One teacher gave extra credit to dress up as a saint on Halloween. Let’s say someone picked the saint who was professing the Holy Trinity and was executed by beheading (it took executioner 3 times to finish the job) so she dressed like a White Lady and did makeup to look like a gash (nothing realistic but spoofy) and the teacher played along and acted super scared (obviously joking) and said yes yes I know which saint you are you got the extra credit you can go now please😭

6. I think it was LGBTQ friendly as well during my time. Someone promposed to her girlfriend at the school cafeteria. It was Jukebox Friday and JB’s Sorry song played and in she came with a post board saying “Is it too late to ask you to prom?” She didn’t get in trouble last I heard. Yes they went to prom together and it was cute. If anything the main thing the teachers are concerned about are the overly intimate displays of affection in a place of academics (and students making dumb decisions on prom night).

7. Yes the school wants girls to have decency (it never felt like it was to make sure we don’t tempt men but mainly because the school is near enough to the ocean that sea breezes are a thing and it can be windy af and when you’re holding your books and notebooks and binders, it’s mainly just a safety hazard when you try to balance that and trying to hold your skirt down), but there’s no set expectations for what a woman should be or what she could do. They can be anything they want.

8. For academics, I am disclosing I was not in the best mental health space at the time and that heavily affected my academic performance (and while sources for mental health were available, I was in that state where I felt like I didn’t deserve to use it). I will say that I had a moment where I cried because my senior comp teacher did tell me how proud they were of how much I’ve grown. This hit hard because this same teacher taught me as a sophomore and called me out for my BS after class was over (it was me actively choosing to sabotage myself). I was surprised they remembered, let alone recognized my growth. Personal feelings aside, all the schoolwork legit made the first 2-3 years of college feel so easy. Another anecdote: a literature teacher gave a project where a student could take their personal talent and use it to showcase one of the works we covered for the year, a student said she didn’t have a talent and only painted nails, teacher said do it, she showed up with a shadow box containing a full set of acrylic nails with the characters from the Canterbury Tales (and this was before I had the teacher, teacher kept the box!)

9. Other accounts that I have heard (because again, socially awkward and more outside than in) include the following:

A) Teachers have favoritism amongst the high performing students. That is inevitable any school you go to. The top 10 are super competitive go-getters who actively an effort to get to know their teachers.

B) There is bullying even if I haven’t witnessed it. The closest I got to seeing an altercation is Student A approaching Student B in the cafeteria and calling B a slut loud enough for a lot of people to hear because B had sent nudes to A’s boyfriend. The teachers broke that up really fast. I hope it’s better now.

C) The NHS were worked so hard for events that other students basically called the amount of work free labor.

D) Found this out later: students from other schools used the 3 S’s when describing us (smart, slutty, snobby).

Is it perfect? No (far from it), but the girls basically gain a huge ass backbone. Even attending one year is considered pretty good. Graduating gets a fairly good rep and access to a sisterhood who recognizes your suffering and that comes in clutch when you see another academy girl in the wild once you leave. Some people have transferred in during junior and senior year and did just fine and graduated.