The school year at Cape Coral High School is back in swing, and with that comes another new wave of freshman students. The freshman class for the 2024-2025 school year is massive, exceeding 600 students. 

As the first week of school passes, the freshmen begin to familiarize themselves with their teachers, their classes, and the overall feel of the school. “I really like Cape High so far,” said freshman Brielle Pachick. “The teachers are all nice and good at explaining things and I can tell they put a lot of effort into their job.” 

However, high school is much different than middle school, which became evident to the freshman very quickly. 

Freshman Hailey Pelegrin said, “It’s really crowded and my classes are just very difficult and boring.”

However, there are still perks to entering high school. As school is back in session, so are sports, which are apparently a highlight for many of the freshmen. 

“Cape Coral High School is the absolute best school because of the football team and all the other sports they have that do really good,” said freshman Nahzyah Beckford. “I’m for sure going to join the football team, that’s just something I really want to be a part of.”

Another highlight of high school has been the earlier release time. Students go from dismissing at 4:00 to 1:35, a huge adjustment that has been long overdue. 

“I think my favorite part about high school definitely has to be getting out of school earlier,” said freshman Alexis Verhoff. “I can get home and I have more time to take a nap, do my homework, and whatever else I need to do.”

As far as the Pre-IB program concerns, it is a daunting undertaking for the students. 

Ninth grade Pre-IB student Joely Pacheko said, “I am really loving the freedom I get in high school but people say you don’t really get to do a lot outside of school when you’re in IB and it’s definitely going to be really hard.”

On the other hand, some that didn’t choose to join IB have mixed feelings about the benefits.

“IB seems really difficult so I didn’t want to do that, but at the same time there’s a lot of people in IB and if they can do it I probably could,” said freshman Bella Poole.

Cape High is a big school, so it can be tough for some students to find their way around. Thankfully, the freshmen have really started to get used to it. Most of them can now navigate to their classes fairly easily. 

“Honestly, finding my way around wasn’t that bad. I thought it would be way worse but after the first day I really didn’t even need my schedule anymore,” said freshman Addison Quercia.

It still does prove very hard for some students to memorize their classes. 

Freshman Alexzandra Bertram said, “I really don’t know what classes I’m taking or the teacher’s names yet I haven’t really memorized my schedule by heart or anything.”

While it will take some work, the freshman class is slowly settling into their four-year journey in the Seahawk’s Nest.