Teliyah Hickey is a Year 12 student at Walgett Community College High School.
While staying at a camp last year, she got quite the reaction when people heard where she was from.
"When they said, 'Walgett', everyone just gasped," she said. "People still talked to us and we became friends. But we wanted to prove them wrong."
In 2015, the north-western NSW town was thrust into the national spotlight after a video of teenage girls fighting went viral.
By that time violent attacks among students were all too common, even prompting police to be stationed inside the school.
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Student attendance was low, staff departures were high, and the NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli had previously lamented the poor state of its facilities.
"It was in terrible condition, probably the worst school across New South Wales," he said. "It had holes in the ceiling with exposed wires. It had graffiti. Drainage grates were missing. There were OH&S issues."
But more recently, the high school has undergone a dramatic transformation. A $9.2 million rebuild of the campus - that students described as being dull and falling apart - has seen it completely refurbished and updated.
"It's good. Better than last year," said student Serena Sharpley. "Better learning place. Better furniture."
"You can actually call this a school now," her classmate Dainah Ashby said. "Before, it was nothing."
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Ms Hickey and her classmate Bridie Lake agree that the changes are already having a profound effect.
"I reckon it looks more welcoming than before," Ms Hickey said.
"The town will improve now, because the school has improved."
"When you come into class, you feel like you want to learn," Ms Lake said. "You have something going, something to look forward to at school because it's refreshing.
'A challenging community'
Mr Piccoli described Walgett as "a challenging community", with funding allocated to help families facing issues like domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse.
"We could always improve the way they are delivered," he said.
"There are psychology services for students, but we're trying to reach into those families and assist them with some of the inter-generational trauma in those communities so they can best support their children when they come to school."
Anne Dennis, from the Walgett branch of the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, said several other issues were also raised in a huge consultation process with the town on the school's future.
"The community's been in drought, there's not much seasonal work around, so times are really hard," she said.
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"There (are) cuts in funding to support various programs. So it's about how we work together towards a better future for our kids."
In October 2015, Karen McKinnon was appointed Walgett Community College's new school principal.
She brought to the job her theory on student behaviour, developed working in similar schools in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
"Things happen in schools," she said. "All schools have expectations about behaviours that are appropriate and inappropriate.
"Once you set those expectations and you set the bar high enough, students always come to meet that."
New programs
Along with tougher rules, the school has introduced programs to keep students focused and active.
Walgett's Police and Community Youth Club (PCYC) is now a permanent fixture at the campus, organising sport activities and a breakfast club before class.
Although too early to tell what kind of impact the changes will have on the school's overall performance, students said attendance and morale are up.
"There was a lot of fights, but after it was on the media and stuff, it stopped," student Abbey Ashby said.
"Everyone just settled down. It was like everyone just woke up to themselves."
It's a trend Principal McKinnon said she is determined to continue.
"My goal here is to make sure every student ends up at Year 12 and a pathway into whatever career or study they need to get into," she said.
