Growing up through the Triton school system, in his Sophomore year of high school Hugh Rice decided to switch out of the school and go to Austin Prep instead.
Rice was a former player for the Triton lacrosse team, but now plays for Austin Prep, but why? What’s wrong with Triton’s team? ¨My parents pushed the idea on me.” Said Rice. ”They said Austin prep offered better opportunities for Lacrosse and my education.¨
Every year, kids transitioning from middle to high school are given the option to tour Whittier and later decide if you would like to go there for high school. Kids who are interested in certain lines of work like blue-collar jobs may attend Whittier for the practice in those specific areas. Recently more and more kids have been opting to do that and we have word that this year may be the record for most percentage of middle schoolers choosing to leave Triton for their high school career.
“I chose to go to Whittier because of the opportunities it could give me towards my future career path,” said former Triton student Tyler Knight. “Next week I’ll be going out on co-op during shop week and working in the field for HVAC.”
However, even students who don’t leave to go to Whittier right after middle school may find a better fit for them somewhere else. There are many different reasons as to why a student of Triton may leave for another school. Most cases have something to do with sports, education or just more opportunities somewhere else.
Recently, the number of students transferring schools has gone up, and we are seeing less and less middle schoolers staying in the system while transitioning over to high school. This raises the question among the student body and staff, why? What is causing this trend of students switching schools?
Middle School head principal, Alan Macrae, has also noticed a rise in students leaving Triton. “I would say there has been a rise over the last few years,” said Macrae. “The Whittier applications have creeped up a little bit, but Essex Tech went up a lot this year.”
Although Triton may get a bad rep, and some schools may seem like a better option for a better education, we have our fair share of Ivy-League bound students here at Triton that seem to fit just fine. We even have a good amount of alumni who now attend colleges with an Ivy League education. Class of 2024 alumni Ben Norton now attends Dartmouth College after spending all four of his high school years at Triton. “For me high school was something that you got what you put into it,” said Norton. “It was more important to stay with my friends and my community and I believed Triton could prepare me for college.”
While people may think the main reason for kids leaving Triton is to pursue better academics, it could also be because other tech schools in the surrounding areas offer more programs. In recent years there has been a lot of discussion about how “worth it” it is to go to college rather than learning a trade. Students who think it’s better to learn a trade like being a mechanic will be better off going to Whittier or Essex tech because they offer courses specifically for certain trades, unlike Triton.
Dominic Torrisi grew up in the Triton School district his whole life, however after 8th grade he decided to switch to Whittier Tech. He gave his explanation as to why he left, ¨Whittier just has more to offer for students looking to go into the trades.¨ Said Torrisi, ¨Whittier is a better school if you want to go down a different career path in the future in my opinion.¨ Every year it seems more and more rising freshmen are choosing tech schools over our regional school district. Schools like Essex Tech and Whittier Tech are in the nearby surrounding areas so it would make them a good option for students that go to Triton but feel it doesn’t provide education programs that suit them. This raises the question: what can Triton do, if anything, to keep more students here instead of leaving for the tech schools?
