No one likes to be picked on, not even a high school.
Charlottesville High School, the city's only public high school, says it is fed up with the press passing nasty slanted notes to the public.
Students and administrators are forced to combat what they call "unfounded" community misconceptions that the school is a hotbed for violence and racial tension, according to several CHS students and alumni.
"The school gets a bad rap," said second-year College student Brian McCollam, who graduated from CHS in 2001. "There's no black versus white or white versus black, but there's always room for improvement."
Contributing to this negative perception of a school considered by school officials as "one of the top two in the area," are the attacks by nine CHS students last September and January on University students.
But current and former students say these assaults do not reflect the true culture of Charlottesville High.
"Actions of a few individuals took the whole community by surprise, including CHS," said second-year College student Helen Gibson, also a 2001 CHS graduate.Gibson characterized the attacks as "definitely atypical of CHS."
CHS senior Jane Yarney agreed with Gibson and pointed to "the ability of students to get along together" as the school's most defining characteristic, not violence.
"I've never seen anyone beat someone else up because they were a different race," Yarney said.
Fourth-year College student Ben Batemen, one of the assault victims, maintained that the attacks, however, did have racial overtones.
"If they say that they [CHS students] don't have racial tension at their school I would have to believe them," Bateman said. "I do think the attacks were racially motivated -- and class motivated."
In response to the attacks and community backlash, the school created a Student Advisory Group to respond to what they feel is poor media coverage and improve the school's tarnished image.
The 20-member student committee has worked with the media and immediate community to try to ensure the press didn't disseminate misperceptions about student life at Charlottesville.
But the press, specifically the Daily Progress, still got it wrong,Jane Yarney said.
"Every school has its bad sides" but the problems come when "the media just reports on that" said second-year College student Sean Carlton, one of about 20 CHS graduates in his class at the University.
Carlton added the news coverage was not completely inaccurate, but that such stories only highlighted the negative aspects of the social climate at CHS.
Fourth-year College student Esi Yarney, Jane's older sister, said the attack coverage is only an example of the media machine and not accurately representing the school.
"The local media doesn't depict the positive things at the school," the older Yarney said. "We're not singing and holding hands but we get along well."
She added that CHS students are, on the whole, poorer than Albemarle County students and may consequently lack the financial resources typically needed to ensure academic success.
CHS Associate Principal Kenneth Leatherwood said one only needs to look at the extent of the school's offerings.
"We offer the most AP courses [in the area], and that's a fact," Leatherwood said. "We just offer more" courses overall, added Leatherwood, who is in his ninth year as associate principal and 25th year with the school.
Leatherwood said the fact that the school has 100 tuition paying students who come from surrounding jurisdictions is a testament to the quality of education. The school even had to establish a waiting list this year for students wanting to enroll, he added.
The school has tried to work through the bad and what they felt was exaggerated publicity and to close the door on a darker episode of the school's history.
Students involved in the assaults were suspended until the trial, but were allowed to return to CHS after the legal proceedings ended.
"We didn't alienate anyone. The media did a great job of that," said Jane Yarney, a lacrosse teammate of one of the girls involved in the attacks.
Even with negative publicity swirling around the school, former students such as Gibson still feel comfortable in her alma mater's orange and black and hearing "Charlottesville Onward" sung.
"I was always really proud of going to CHS because of its diversity and quality of programs," Gibson said.
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