Find out more about Montclair High School
Part 1: A Day at MHS (27 minutes)
Part 2: Navigating MHS (28 minutes)
Part 3: What Does the MHS Experience Offer? (30 minutes)
About the video, "Inside Montclair High"
Funded in partnership with the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence (MFEE), what began as a project to depict a few brief snippets of all the positive things about Montclair High School turned into a full-fledged, three-part film. While the motivation remained the same, what filmmaker Masiel Rodriguez-Vars with the assistance of MHS students created was a deeper examination of the world inside Montclair High.
"The original concept was that it was meant to fill some of the gaps of what you don't hear or read in the news; to see the other side of MHS," said Rodriguez-Vars. "What we came out with was totally different than what we intended. It took shape once the kids got involved."
Rodriguez-Vars enlisted the help of students and following a series of production meetings where they discussed everything from the student population to academics to after-school activities, filmed the daily lives of a diverse group over the course of the 2009-2010 school year.
Trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, Rodriguez-Vars took to the hallways, camera in hand. "After a while they forgot about the cameras," she admitted. "It wasn't scripted and they weren't trying to 'sell' the school. They were just relaxed and open about people seeing what their lives are like. We had a wide-range represented and the students were very frank."
The result, she says, is a film that portrays the many facets of Montclair High. But don't call it a documentary. "It was not meant to be a tell-all. It was intentional to highlight the positive."
That doesn't mean, according to Rodriguez-Vars, that it is any less authentic. "Just because it's positive doesn't make it any less real," she added. The pieces themselves were meant to balance out the negative in the media. Montclair High is certainly not perfect and we know there are challenges. This is to remind us of the positives, and as a viewer, you should take both sides to get a full picture of MHS."
Although she tried to remain objective, Rodriguez-Vars did have a personal interest in finding out what happens in the halls. "I filmed the year before my son entered MHS. I couldn't help but bring myself to the experience. Every new parent has perceptions, concerns and anxieties," she said. "But I walked away feeling so confirmed that MHS is already great but absolutely needs more support to make it even better. It does work for a lot of kids."
Initially, said Rodriguez-Vars, the intention of the film was to enlighten the community. She wasn't thinking about how the film could potentially be useful to incoming ninth graders until the students said they wished they'd had it available to them before they entered MHS. Eighth-grade students and their families will now have the opportunity to view the film and will have a chance to see what life will be like for them in the near future.
In addition, viewers also have the opportunity to get to know some of Montclair High Schools' teachers. "The teachers we filmed are shockingly committed," added Rodriguez-Vars. "We had a good mix of teachers, not all teaching high-level courses. You can see how much they are genuinely interested in the students and their success."
But at the heart of the film are the students. "When you 'meet' these kids and get to know them, you see how committed they are," said Rodriguez-Vars. "And they're not necessarily the students you expect. Hopefully, it will inspire the community and remind people why these programs are so important and why it is critical to support the schools now more than ever."