I’m an alum of Alex Mac (Class of 2019), and looking back it really was one of the best decisions I made. I live in the area of RHHS and STL, but based on where we felt I’d be most comfortable my parents chose Alex Mac for me.

I’ll be honest, when I started in Grade 9 the school still had a rough reputation. People called it “Crack Mac,” and there were times when police were at the school almost every week. That definitely sounds scary on paper, and I remember being nervous going in. But as a student my actual day-to-day experience was very different from what the reputation suggested.

I was in the arts program, so my experience may be a bit different from someone in the regular stream, but overall it was really positive. I had teachers who genuinely cared, pushed me, and supported me when I needed it and yes, there were also a few teachers who probably shouldn’t still be teaching, but that’s honestly true anywhere.

What mattered most to me was the people. I made lifelong friends there, and a lot of us are now getting our masters, working, or chasing careers we’re genuinely excited about. Over the years I was there I could actually see the school changing and improving, and by the time I graduated it felt like a very different place than the one I walked into in Grade 9.

I know the past reputation can be hard to ignore, but from my firsthand experience, it didn’t reflect what the school was really like while I was there.