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During the recent 50th class reunion picnic of William Penn High School’s class of 1959, the topic of “high first grade” came up.

I started asking folks, “Did you go to the 'high first’ at Leonard Street or Fairview Street School?”

Right about now, I know you are asking, “What in the world is the 'high first’?”

The high first was for kids who repeated the first grade. Rather than destroy their little psyches, telling them they repeated, they were promoted to the high first.

Some of the kids in the high first were there because the teachers thought they hadn’t matured enough, didn’t do well academically or just a combination of things that suited a teacher’s fancy.

I have asked around and can’t find any other schools other than Leonard and Fairview Street schools that had a high first grade. No one outside of these two schools has ever heard of a high first.

Who in the world created this mystery grade? Do you know the answer?

Until my mother broke the news to me a few years ago, I always thought I was late going to school because my birthday fell in December. It turns out Julia Hall, a third-grade teacher and family friend at Leonard Street, told my mother that I wasn’t mature enough for the second grade.

Now I know I was a little dummy who wasn’t smart enough for second grade, so they sent me to something in between called the high first.

What makes this so funny is the fact that kids in the high first believed they were something special, much smarter than the kids in the first and second grades. We were clueless.

As the day wore on, it was amazing how many high first-graders I could identify. Stepping forth and admitting to being a high first was Blanche Walker, Clarence Kennedy, Cora Baker, Eddie B. Davis, Annie Anderson, Shirley McBee and some others who don’t want their names mentioned. Outside the class of ’59, we have folks from other years such as Carolyn Dockery and Charles Gripper who admit to going to the high first. Clarence Kennedy and I find it funny that some folks will argue you down that they never heard of the high first, but based on their track record, we know better.

By the way, Freddie Tate was animated about not going to the high first, but we know for a fact he later created the high third.

Now that we are older, most of us can all look back and laugh about being in the high first.

If you are wondering if you went to the high first, I want you to think about this. If your parents told you that you started school late because of your birthday, you may have gone to the high first. If you had a brother or sister in your class and you weren’t twins, more than likely one of you went to the high first. If you didn’t graduate in 12 years, you may have gone to the high first.

We high-first people are some lucky people when you think about it. We can always have two celebrations, one for the year we should have graduated and one for the year that we did. Only high-first folk can make that claim.

Glenn Chavis researches and writes about High Point’s black history. Contact him at Storytime40@aol.com