For most students, the North Allegheny experience begins in Kindergarten and ends at commencement. For NASH senior Ava Azzanni, however, NA is one ten different districts she has attended since she began school.
“My dad is a professional football coach, so we’ve moved around a lot,” said Azzanni, whose father Zach is currently the Steelers Wide Receivers Coach.
When the Azzanni family arrive at NA, Ava immediately noticed a difference.
“NA is a lot bigger than my other schools,” she said. “At my last school, there were 100 kids in my grade. Coming from there to here was a big adjustment.”
With around 9,000 students, NA is a large district comprised of 12 schools. In fact, it’s so big that students enter ninth grade at NAI, which draws from three middle schools, and feel like they are going to the mall for the first time.
“I’ve been to so many different schools from other states,” said NASH senior Avery Verdi. “Recently I’ve moved from Massachusetts to Pittsburgh. My school in Mass was 7th through 12th and only 200 kids. Everyone was in everyone’s business. You could never keep anything private or secret.”
Verdi was surprised when she arrived at North Allegheny.
“There are so many people here that you don’t know if you just haven’t seen them or if they are new to the school,” she said.
Verdi has lived all over the country due to her father’s job as a college basketball coach.
“I was born in Nebraska, moved to Kansas, Michigan, Massachusetts, now to Pennsylvania,” she said. “My school in Michigan was my favorite and the community was amazing. People’s mannerisms in New England are completely different from the Midwest. They are so much friendlier [in the Midwest].”
Azzanni agreed.
“New Jersey was definitely a lot different from NA,” she said. “People were meaner there than they are here.”
Verdi pointed to other aspects about NA that she appreciates.
“The lunch food is a lot better here than at my school,” she said. “I’ve also noticed that the teaching here is so much better.”
NASH English teacher Mrs. Omasits has taught at other schools and has come to appreciate the unique features of the North Allegheny experience.
“When I taught at the schools in the city, we had more freedom about what we could teach and how we could teach it,” Omasits said, “and I really liked the freedom. But even though we don’t have the same freedom, NA is just an easy place to teach. The kids are such good people, and that makes me love to come to school every day”.
Students who attended schools outside of the county have a different perspective on NA as well.
NASH senior Mateo Reyes was a students at Colegio Los Alamos in Peru before moving to North Allegheny.
“The education level was much more difficult compared to NA,” Reyes said. “The classes at my old school were almost college level.”
Reyes added, “One of the other big differences was that my old school was just a school for boys. Everybody, including the teachers and janitors, was male. So it’s nice [at NA] to have a bigger community with more diversity.”
For Azzanni, who attended high school in Colorado and New Jersey before moving here, NA now feels like home.
“New Jersey was definitely a lot different from NA,” she said. “People were meaner there than they are here. I really like it here.”
