Orientation

Audiovisual Room 110, Ground Floor, Eastern Wing

As the bell chimed once more, indicating the start of the first period, Raphael had arrived.

The room was already lit with the school's projector turned on when he got inside. There is just a bunch of desks and chairs, a whiteboard with a big headline: Evanderhill Academy, and some information below.

No one else was there besides him.

He found a pleasantly situated seat just in front of the screen and patiently waited to see if anyone else was coming over for his orientation, tapping his fingers lightly to break the silence.

After a few minutes had passed by, the door flung open as a set of heels began strutting in, making a slight clicking sound every time it hits the tiled floors.

"Good day, you must be Raphael Kiersten." A female's voice spoke out with a deep vocal tone and a slight hint of sternness. As soon as his name got called, Raphael turned over and nodded in affirmation.

"Yes."

"I am your counselor. Ms. Gretta Hernandez," she introduced as she continued to walk towards the front of the room with a small podium.

"You can call me Ms. Hernandez. I will be handling your orientation."

Raphael nodded as he sat in a proper posture.

Ms. Gretta appeared to be voluptuous with her turtleneck shirt clung nicely tight over her chest and waist, while her pencil skirt hugged comfortably on her thick hips and thighs. The dark stockings and Louboutin's heels just complemented her fit. But the way her hair was tied in a neat bun and red frames sitting on the bridge of her nose gave her that serious and stern confidence which complemented her overall appearance.   

While she was speaking about Evanderhill Academy's history, she opened up a presentation in PowerPoint to discuss it further with visualization.

Raphael attentively listened and took down important notes like any other discussion in class.

"What is Evanderhill Academy?" she said deliberately, like a rhetorical question.

"It's not just a conventional high school," she explained. " Evanderhill was created as a private alternative high school program by the Schneider family, specifically designed to help students who begin or resume their secondary education later in life. We cater to returnees, dropouts, homeschooled individuals, and transferees from non-traditional systems.”

She paused for a second to study Raphael's expression, ensuring he was following through.

"Most of our students are 18 or older with a maximum age acceptance of 21, though we maintain the traditional sophomore, junior, and senior labels for academic structure," she continued, clicking her heels as she walked by in circles.

He paused and pondered. So this wasn't a typical high school at all? That explained why the wide range of ages seemed vaguely noticeable.

Then, Ms. Hernandez proceeded to the next slide, and Harian's image stood out among the sample images displayed on screen.

“Evanderhill also welcomes special privileged students such as idols, actors, athletes, and others with demanding careers who wish to continue their education while working. We provide flexible scheduling, modular online classes, and support to accommodate them.”

Raphael smiled in amusement. Harian's definitely not lying about it, huh? He seems to be one of the golden trophies in here.

"The Academy also accepts scholarship grants, provided that they must work under the school's administration while maintaining a class standing of B and above. Failure to comply will result in revocation, or further negotiations can be applied through more working hours." she calmly stated the next section of the slide.

"Ms. Hernandez, what do you mean by class standing?" Raphael curiously raised his hand as he asked the question.

"Evanderhill Academy has a special hierarchy class system. This can help maintaining competitve environment to help students improve themselves and aim to reach perfection."

"Each school level is divided into four classes," she continued.

She showed the following chart :

CLASS A — Top students in academics and athletics. Prodigies, Popularity, Social Involvement, and other Activities, Elite connections are also considered. Extra privileges are granted for students in this tier. Basically, the model students in the academy.

CLASS B — still a solid tier for capable, reliable, responsible for students, but not exceptional enough to belong in class A. Middle ground for decent achievers in academics and athletics.

 CLASS C — transitional tier for students who have difficulties during the entrance exam classification. Some students belonging here have inconsistent performance, image problems, and rebellious demeanor.

 CLASS D — the bottom tier. Students who belong here are poor in academics, have bad behavior, and serious disciplinary records. The Academy still welcomes them for support and additional funds.

Ms. Hernandez kindly explained each tier thoroughly while citing examples for each situation. Now, Raphael remembered taking that classification exam. His uncle told him not to take the examinations too seriously, and the results? Class C.

At most, his intelligence could only merit him at least in class B, but if he mentioned his connections with the Schneiders, he would certainly belong to class A.

Actually, that didn't seem too bad for him. After all, he needed to be low-key.

The discussion continued further with explanation of possibilities to accelerate in the Academy's classification through different means such as: attending athletics program, extracurricular activities, student body committee, improving academics, doing exemplary research and investigations, and other opportunities.

Raphael just quietly sat in his seat, still trying to listen attentively as the orientation dragged a little bit longer than he expected.

Ms. Hernandez finally reached the last few slides of the presentation and made her closing remarks.

"That's all you need to get to know Evanderhill Academy. Now, Raphael. Are you willing enough to improve yourself in the next school year?"

Raphael's thoughts had drifted somewhere before he could eventually realize she had started a conversation.

"Oh, um. I am sorry," he snapped back to his senses.

"Well, I hope you do." She just smiled. "Thank you for your time."

She finally dismissed him from the orientation and was told to return to class for his next period.

As Raphael began to march his way back to his classroom, he carefully thought about the Academy at the moment.

This Academy is pretty complicated, the deeper he thinks about it.

What is the reason for inventing this system?

It's nothing more than a division in power and social status.