Located in New York City, on the Southern tip of the island, on West Street, in the Wall Street Area, on "Ground Zero", under the shadow of the World Trade Center, set between Soho and Tribeca, it is the school the Generation Girls and Blaine Gordon attend.
As soon as students turn onto West Street, they enter the school's student tunnel. The school's tunnel is brightly lit and has gently sloping access ramps and a special wheelchair lift for the disabled. Every few feet along the walls are large polished mirrors with painted faces of teenagers from around the world, giving the illusion that two faces are looking back at the students-their own and the one from the painting.
M.I.H. is a brand-new school. It has at least seven flights of stairs and around 3000 students. The school has elevators and escalators. The inspiration for the school came from the real-life Manhattan International High School in New York City. A playset based on the school can be found at Miscellaneous Gen Girl Dolls and Collection. The school is filled with multi-lingual students from around the world.
It's infamous around New York City and around the world, and is known for being modern with the latest technology and emphasis on free-spirited modern art. The athletes are even able to swipe their Student ID cards to enter the building. The exterior of the school is decorated with modern artistry. A mural full of teenagers from around the world decorates the building. There are also sculptures lining the outside as well. One sculpture has the school's motto on it: "Many Peoples, Many Cultures, One Heart, One World", while another sculpture is bronze and has a group of young students balancing a globe of the world on their fingertips. The front doors are made of glass.
For "Zero Day", students who were accepted received special brochures that gave detailed directions to the school (even if many students like Barbara Barbie Roberts and Lara Marie Morelli-Strauss lost the maps that were inserted inside). Enrollees also received their own special International High bookbags.
Despite the elaborate outer décor and technology, being a brand-new school, there are still a lot of "bugs" within the building, such as elevators and escalators being stuck, no hot water coming from the sinks in the girls' bathrooms, tiles not being quite sealed down on the floors, books that have writing in them or seem chewed, water fountains spraying students or just barely trickling out a little water, issues with heating systems, and/or issues with toilets. The cafeteria food is also not very appetizing, especially the "Mystery Meat". Most of the students only eat the salad and ice cream. Some of the students, such as Victoria 'Tori' Burns and Lara Marie Morelli-Strauss also have lunch scheduled as early as 10:50 a.m. or earlier, right after their breakfast. This causes these students to be hungry throughout the day.
Students have to submit an application essay and then become accepted in order to enroll at the school. Majority of the students who attend the school are well-off or wealthy, with a few exceptions, such as Ana Maria Suarez. For a lot of the foreign students, such as Victoria 'Tori' Burns, the classes are easy, with her often finding she learned the same information in her old school the year before. For students from poorer or less financially-supported schools, like Ana Maria Suarez, the competition is tougher and the classes are more demanding.
A few classrooms and offices have been listed as especially important throughout the building:
- The Main office is on the ground floor where the Principal and the Assistant Principal's offices reside. Principal Simmons's secretary, Rubia Santana, has a desk inside the main office. Principal Simmons and Assistant Principal Oliver Merlin run the school. Principal Simmons raised money in order to open the new building. She was getting more enrollees, and didn't want students and staff to feel cramped. She plans on working out the kinks and improving the student lunch in the cafeteria. The Assistant Principal often uses the main office's P.A. system to give announcements across the school.
- The Gym is on the ground floor, with Ms. Krieger as the Physical Education instructor. An underground tunnel leads to the gym, and there are stairs that lead up and out onto a large track field. There's a playing field adjoining the school with many different picnic benches all around it. The school has a football field and an Olympic-sized swimming pool as well. The football coach keeps a VCR in the gym to review the football players' games. The locker rooms have showers in them. The school colors are green and gold. The track team received new tracksuits in these colors.
- Mixed Chorus, an after school singing club, meets in Room 111.
- Mr. Harris's Art History class is in Room 241, 2nd floor.
- Biology class is in Room 329, 3rd floor.
- The Library is on the 3rd floor. It has a copy of a directory of all the students attending the school posted outside.
- Mr. Budge's History class is on the 4th Floor
- French Class is on the 4th Floor.
- Mr. Henri Toussaint's Sophomore Advisory Office, Room 502, 5th floor. His office has no door, allowing students to flow in and out freely.
- Mr. Henri Toussaint's English class is in Room 555, 5th floor. His room is covered with pictures of famous writers, quotes from famous books, clippings from the latest book reviews, and stirring lines of poetry. From Mr. Henri Toussaint's classroom windows, students can see practically all of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.
- Generation Beat, the school newspaper/magazine that gave the Generation Girls their name, meet in room 712 after school on the 7th floor. It has a small blackboard, no windows, and a bunch of computers and printers. A radiator sits along a cinder-block wall. Initially, there were only a few chairs with the majority of the team sitting on the floor. Mr. Henri Toussaint, an English teacher and advisor, is the faculty member in charge of Generation Beat.
Other Classes
- Ms. Newton's Math Class
- Mrs. Glottel's Art Class
- Ms. Hong's English Class
- Dr. Spool's Advanced Algebra Class
- Mr. Ordway's Latin Class
- Ms. Clayton's Biology Class
- Music Appreciation Class
- Physics
A full list of other staff and students can be reviewed here: Gen Girl Universe Characters.
List of After-school activities:
- Mixed Chorus
- Boys' Soccer Team
- Generation Beat: School Newspaper/Magazine and Website
- Track Team
- Football Team
- Swim Team
- Basketball Team
- School Plays/Drama Club
- Student Body
- Principal-For-A-Day Committee
- Valentine's Day Dance Committee
- Dance Party Committee
Mr. Pugachev, or "Poogy", is the Chief Custodian of the building.
The Generation Girls' special "secret message" spot, hidden under a loose tile, was on the 5th floor before it was sealed by the custodian. Ana Maria Suarez's and Nichelle Williams's lockers are on the 5th floor.