And The Winners Are...

Monday, March 12, is the date of the anouncement of public high school entrance exam results this year. It is now shortly before 3:00 in the afternoon, and the atmosphere in the teachers' room is tensely expectant as third grade homeroom teachers and the school administration await the fateful ringing of the phone. The high schools post exam results on large notice boards at the school entrance, and the students attempting to enter the school nervously scan the boards for their registration number, hoping they are numbered among the elect. The students are joined by a teacher from their middle school who relays the results to the school itself by phone. Even as I write, the phone rings bringing additional announcements. The students who pass the exam remain at the school for a packet containing information about the upcoming school year. Those who fail the test return to their middle school later in the afternoon to confer with their homeroom teacher regarding Plan B. The latter generally involves sitting the entrance exam the following day at one of the private high schools in the area. Students whose parents cannot afford the exorbitant tuition and fees of private schools may take the "second chance" exam, held March 26, at one of the less desirable public high schools, for at this late stage they are the only ones with vacancies remaining.