As I walked through Millennium’s hallways, students compared the leftover baked goods that they had filched from the faculty meeting, debating over who had made the better selection. Three groups of students came in for the sole purpose of saying hello to Shannon, the receptionist while I waited in the office.

Students ambled to class, and principal Sati Shah stood with me while we waited for Marcela Privat-Gilman, whose Spanish II class I hoped to observe. Class started a few minutes after the bell, and the lesson was not strictly based on a textbook. Instead, Privat-Gilman lead a discussion on clothing by asking about various articles of clothing that she and her students were wearing, with students calling out their answers rather than raising hands. Both teacher and students joked about designer brands and the correct Spanish translation of the phrase “I got fat pockets.”

Morning sunlight filled the classroom as it streamed in through open door and windows, revealing a panorama view of the bay. One girl started eating a sandwich, and two of the students propped their feet up on empty chairs, which were plentiful in a class of ten students.  The classroom setting was far more casual than it had been in any class I had ever taken — and the students still knew their verb conjugations.