The 9th grade has an odd place at Prep. While other schools consider the freshmen class part of the high school, the freshmen at Prep are merely a part of the junior high. There are many things that the freshmen are not allowed to take part in with the high school that other schools let their freshmen do. Homecoming at Prep is only welcome to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, meaning the freshmen are not allowed. Freshman Molly Tipton said, “It’s embarrassing that we cannot attend homecoming because all the other schools go, and people think we just didn’t get asked.” Our rival school Jackson Academy does not let their freshmen go to home- coming dance either, but they at least let them dress up during the week. Madison-Ridgeland Academy, however, does let their freshmen dress up during the week and attend the homecoming dance. They even let the freshmen on the homecoming court.

At Prep, the freshmen are still in the junior high building instead of the high school building. Freshman Harrison Jones said, “It’s not fair because we have to run around all the time going from junior high to senior high all day.” Both JA and MRA freshmen are in the high school building, making it seem like they are considered high schoolers. The freshmen have homeroom with the entire junior high, but the other high schoolers do not have homeroom. Because they are located in the junior high, they do not get to participate in dressing up for each pep rally. They do get to dress up for some of the pep rallies, but there are some pep rallies that they can- not participate in. While at other schools, the freshmen are allowed to dress up for every pep rally.

Despite the restriction on the freshmen at Prep, they are given most of the same responsibilities as high schoolers. Their grades count for college just like every high schooler. Their grades start to be put on their college transcript, including their GPA. They must go to the forums with the high school. Because of these things, some freshmen do not know where they stand at Prep.