Peabody enjoys extracurriculars, freedom at high school
Freshman Ayzia Peabody finds swimming and art among her highlights in school.
January 19, 2023
For two years, freshman Ayzia Peabody went to the Young Women’s Preparatory Academy, a private all-girls school in downtown Houston. She transitioned to a public middle school partway through 7th grade after moving to Houston.
Peabody and her parents decided to continue public education for high school, because of the friends she had made at Kingwood Middle and the opportunities present at Kingwood Park.
At Young Women’s Preparatory Academy, Peabody said the girls were expected to keep their grades above an 80 or risk getting kicked out of the private institution. She also said students were given little freedoms and harsh expectations. However, the girls who stayed were practically guaranteed a college education.
“More scholarships were given, but I have more opportunities here to enjoy myself,” Peabody said. “It was a STEM school so there were not many other options.”
Now that she has access to extracurricular activities she is involved in swim and art, and even played Joe in “Little Women” during 8th grade, all of which she couldn’t have done at her old school.
“She’s always been a good student, so that part wasn’t hard, it was learning to balance the other stuff that was difficult,” Ayzia’s mother Harlesica Peabody said.
Her first experience at a public school was very new, because she had never been able to freely wear what she wanted to. Her previous school had a very strict uniform policy, including a tie, a blazer, a button up with an undershirt underneath, a specific length sock and only Mary Janes. No makeup or jewelry were allowed.
“Coming to Kingwood was disorienting because even at my public schools and elementary school they also had uniforms,” Peabody said. “So whenever I came to Kingwood I was like, I can just wear whatever I want? And the ugliest outfits came from it.”
The transition was rough. She and her family moved during COVID and because the school was an all-girls school, it was an adjustment being at a school with guys. Even the topics she talks about were affected. At her old school, everyone was very open about feminine hygiene but at a public school it felt like an off-limits topic to her.
“It was unique because we were also transitioning out of COVID, so it was transitioning from the college preparatory academy to a regular middle school and also transitioning from online classes to in-person classes,” her mother said.
Because the school was in a more urban area, the school was much more diverse and computers were provided by the school, but the transportation was awful since everyone came from places across the city.
“It was a three-hour commute,” Peabody said. “I woke up. I had to rush and get dressed. I could not eat breakfast because I had to get on the Metro bus by 5 a.m., and then I take another Metro bus to get to the train station, where I met someone else and we got on another bus. Then we walked for 30 more minutes to our school.”
The commute to Peabody’s current school is much more simple, and she has found a love for swim. She plans on taking it her whole high school career.
