PRIDE important to choice students

By Aidan Cook

Staff Writer

Every year, many new students are welcomed to Shores. Of those new students, not all of them are coming from the middle school. Some of these students are new to Mona Shores Public Schools or school of choice students.

School of choice is when students who live outside of the district choose to go to a different school. So what makes students want to transfer to Mona Shores?

“Honestly, I think it’s because of the people. They make it worth going too,” said freshman Sarah Peterson, who is from Whitehall. “They’re really nice and supportive and kind.”

For junior Johnathan Hall, whose mom is the psychology teacher at the high school, it is also the people.

“I really like the staff. The staff is really nice,” said Hall, who is a non-resident student. “Just the people and the community the people that go here, they’re really nice.”

To encourage positive behavior, Mona Shores uses the PRIDE matrix. The letters of the PRIDE matrix stand for Personal Responsibility, Respect, Integrity, Disciplined, and Engagement.

The PRIDE matrix sets the expectations for the students, and the students try their best to meet the PRIDE standards.

“I definitely believe the PRIDE matrix affects student behavior,” Hall said. “Integrity is the biggest one for me. I know that I’m a better student because of the integrity aspect. But the whole PRIDE matrix, I believe it’s a strong point of focus on our school.”

Sophomore Edison Enders, who is from Morley Stanwood, agrees on the benefits of the PRIDE matrix.

“It actually teaches students discipline and responsibility,” said Enders, who mentioned Personal Responsibility as his favorite part of the matrix. “Everyone has to think that they have a sense of personal responsibility over themselves and that feeling of others having it also.”

Clearly, Mona Shores is a terrific place to go to school. Whether it be the staff, academics, arts, athletics, or just the people here in general,most people would say that there is always a reason that Mona Shores is an amazing school to go to.