Strange Student doesn't mean you're well known, just known. Like people would know your name, and maybe whatever is associated with your strange rumors. Hell the fact you may be a completely normal student itself can be considered a strange rumor since typically, [i]anyone[/i] going to Bullworth has some sketchy past they're running from. So being a normal student who attends because they chose to is considered weird even for those at the academy. 

Of course this doesn't mean you're the talk of the town or even well known. Again, at best people know what your name is, which itself isn't exactly a hard feat considering the school setting. And I did ensure to leave the exact nature of your reputation open enough that it could be used either as a vehicle to make yourself more popular in school, or even more of an enigma, since the nature of the rumors will initially just be a grab bag of random nonsense, and what exactly is true or not will be shaped by your actions in game.