Out of five high schools, Granite Bay High had an average of 52.11% of students exceeding standards in CAASPP testing, making GBHS the top school, academically, in the Roseville Joint Union School District (RJUHSD).

  That being said, does this affluence in academics translate to the school’s environment?

  “Some kids can be jerks, and I don’t think the school’s very accepting of people,” senior Gabe Greiss said. “The students sometimes look down upon kids who aren’t normal, (…) anyone who isn’t white or rich.”

  Greiss has been a student at GBHS for his entire high school career. In that time, he’s had different experiences with discrimination and negativity on campus, involving both students and teachers.

 “A lot of people think that if you don’t get good grades, then you’re an idiot, and (they) won’t want to talk to you,” Greiss said. “Most of the time it’s just teachers being biased to students.”

  Teachers don’t always recognize this side of Granite Bay.

  “I’m only going to see (Granite Bay’s environment) from an extended teacher’s view, which means I’m not out there, I’m (watching my AP students), so I won’t necessarily hear a bad thing being said,” said AP European History teacher Michael Valentine. “Coming from that perspective, it doesn’t seem that bad, but recently there have been a lot of words being used we didn’t know about before.”

  In comparison to other schools in the district, GBHS is not alone.  As it turns out, other RJUHSD schools deal with the similar struggles.

  “Recently, (Woodcreek) has gone through some serious hits to the culture and society (…) there were two suicides a couple years back, the two lockdowns last year, and having a new (principal),” said sophomore Leigha Linder from Woodcreek High School.

  “Woodcreek’s academic environment is pretty relaxed,” Linder said. “There isn’t a lot of classism or elitism.”

  Roseville High School (RHS), also has a less stressful environment than GBHS.

  “I think depending on the teacher, the academic environment (at Roseville) is pretty good,” said sophomore Kasey Trainor-Little.

 However, Trainor-Little has witnessed insensitive actions on the RHS campus, especially towards kids with disabilities or those part of the LGBT community.

  “To sum it up, I would say that a lot of the people mostly go for social status instead of being a genuinely good person,” said Trainor-Little.

  Trainor-Little also gave her own outlook on the whole of Granite Bay, as seen from Roseville.  

  “I’ve only been to Granite Bay a few times, for football games and whatnot, and generally I think it’s a pretty cool place,” Trainor-Little said.