What do you love about your kids' HS? What does it do well?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>With the start of a new school year, I have certainly done my share of hating on my kids' HS. But there are a few things that I like a lot about the school.</p>

<p>The best is the way homecoming court is chosen. Any organization in the school can nominate students from the court....the band, the drill team, the debate team, the swim team, the choir, Thespians. They introduce all of the organization nominees and have them front and center at a pep rally, then the student body votes and the top boy and girl from 9-11th grades are the princes and princesses for their class, and the top 4 boy and girl of the seniors are the king and queen nominees.</p>

<p>My son was the choir nominee his senior year and he was secretly thrilled. Of course, he didn't make it to the next level, but it was such a good experience for him to be recognized at the pep rally....probably the only time in his life he's felt a bit popular.</p>

<p>Who else can describe something that their HS does really well?</p>

2

<p>Our high school does something similar for homecoming royalty. By allowing the different organizations to nominate - you get nominees that often times get overlooked completely by the “popular crowd”. I like that a lot.</p>

<p>Our high school has TREMENDOUS school spirit during football season. Fans will drive 2 hours to go to away games and fill the stands - and the team is usually very strong and winds up in the playoffs. And the marching band has a rich tradition too. It may seem like something that’s not so important - but it’s one of my fondest memories of high school. My mom graduated from there, so did my siblings and I, and so did all of my kids (the last one pending!).</p>

3

<p>Some things I like about my kids’ high school:</p>

<ul>
<li>There is NO homecoming court at all. In fact, our school does not have football (small private). Homecoming is a day event with soccer, cross country, tennis, and volleyball matches during the day with a cookout, and there is an evening dance and bonfire.</li>
<li>Most of our kids go to the winter semi formal dance and prom in groups. There is zero pressure to have a “date”.<br></li>
<li>As a small school, kids who want to participate in an activity can do it. Pretty much no one is ever cut from a sports team, and they can do multiple activities without having to dedicate their lives (and off seasons and summers) to one activity. Very common for a kid to do something like play a couple of sports, be on the speech team, in debate, writing club, and robotics.</li>
<li>Our kids are a known quantity due to the small size of the school. There is no hiding out, and there are adults who know them well and are watching out for them/caring for them throughout their years at the school.</li>
</ul>

4

<p>intparent - that’s cool the way your school does homecoming! How fun!</p>

<p>We have a LOT - probably the majority of kids that go to dances in groups - not dates. Sometimes there are couples within a group, but even then, the couples are often friends and not a romantic interest. My daughters never really got into the whole high school romantic relationship thing. I was glad of that. ;)</p>

5

<p>It’s a wonderful mixed bag of kids of all colors, lifestyles, and economic background. It has a fabulous music program led/taught by a dynamic African American teacher who, in addition to teaching them everything from Gregorian chants to Mozart, also makes the kids learn and appreciate jazz, blues, gospel and yes rap, as part of their musical education. I went to a concert one of the choirs gave at a AA church known for its gospel choir. Audience ended up joining them in singing. Magical. It has a nationally renown debate team. It’s a school that accommodates everyone, whether you’re a white rich kid who went to a private school K-8 and bound for Stanford, or a minority child in a working/lower class single parent family trying to become the first in his circle to go to college. You will find academic and social peers even if you’re a mixed-race, gender-bending geek who never fit in anywhere else. </p>

<p>Yes, it’s a big, crowded public school. Yes, it can be inefficient and messy. Yes, you have to learn to navigate its bureaucracy, find its strengths, and deal with its weaknesses. </p>

<p>In other words - it’s a lot like life itself.</p>

6

<p>My D’s school is a 6-12 and that’s one of the things I love about it. Kids are together for 7 years instead of 4 so they really get to know one another well. That’s important not just from the friendship angle but because they have to work together in group projectsall those years as part of the exhibitions that they do quarterly. I love those, too. I love that they recruit real professionals in the field to review the projects. I love that kids who can work ahead get to do so just by asking, and you don’t have to constantly prove yourself to your classmates or teachers. I love that kids who are behind get extra help. I love that they teach math in a way that just won them a national award, above schools that are much older, bigger and that have been sending kids to college for longer than the founder’s been alive. I love that the founder walks the walk and is there in the building often. I love that she gets people ranging from actors to CEOs involved in helping her vision. I love that there not typical HS sports and dating drama. I love that if a kid has an idea the teachers step aside and let her run with it. I love that college prep starts in 6th grade-the idea of going to college is a given, even for the kids whose parents never made it out of HS. I love the personal support every kid gets. I wish we’d found it before 7th grade and I wish there had been an elementary school to compliment it. It is the best school I’ve encountered anywhere.</p>

7

<p>The school my kids attended was a lot like Katlia’s–a mixed group, ethnically, income-wise, and in variance of aspirations (ie students not looking at college but perhaps trades or armed forces after HS). Kids from different kinds of background got along and were generally supportive of each other. Stand out particulars, for us, at least, where the music program, especially marching band, and a very good computer science program. Dramatics and other arts are also done well there.</p>

8

<p>My kid goes to a large, public HS in a very diverse (economically and racially) area. I think our school does a great job of handling the diversity and helping every kid find a place. They work really hard to make sure that no kid falls through the cracks. My S is amazed at stories of bullying on TV - he swears that he’s never seen bullying at his school - and this is coming from a very “out” gay kid. He has friends across the school - every race, every clique, etc. He has a had a very positive supportive HS experience (even if the academics are only so-so!)</p>

9

<p>My oldest attended a 6-12 school. She was able to take two arts electives every week all through school. I also liked the size of the school, teachers were likely to have classes of 15-20 rather than 30-35 in her sisters school.
I liked that they had a learning specialist that helped her stay organized, without needing a 504 plan.
The quality of the teachers is amazing, and I love that several students from her years at the school, ( & two kids from her graduating class of 18), now teach there.</p>

<p>I love the dedication of the teachers at my younger daughters high school. ( she attended a K-12 school for 3rd-8th) They chaperone at after graduation parties, give kids their cell numbers and host study times during their lunch. I also appreciate that the size allowed for more course selection, and that she was able to get to know so many kids through her participation on sports teams and in other ECs. An accepting atmosphere gave her the opportunity to make friends that she may not have had at other schools. I especially loved that they encouraged students to take AP and honors classes, even if they still struggled in some subjects and needed tutoring or remedial work.
( one of older Ds classmates teaches here too) :)</p>

10

<p>Our school is like Garlands, mixed ethnically and income, good marching band, good theater. First and foremost, good education (large public HS). I like that they have after-prom activities set up to dissuade student drinking.</p>

11

<p>Large public high school. Great academics. Lots of APs. All sorts of activities/clubs/sports/music. Innovative high-tech career-centered magnet program in the district. Most of the parents really look out for their kids and want them to succeed, go on to college. There is little opportunity for kids to get into trouble. Most students seem focused more on their studies than dating/relationships or parties/drinking/drugs. A very clean and safe school. There are special-ed and disabled kids here and the students are very kind to each other. No tolerance for bullies. (Never heard of bullies here. Heard that students from other schools transfered here to get away from bullies). Principal keeps in touch with parents.</p>

12

<p>DS’s school has a group which meets at lunch and is moderated by a volunteer teacher. They get to discuss ANY topic of interest…politics, ethics, morals, church/state, poverty, immigration, abortion…you name it. The behavior code is simple, be polite, listen to others and state you opinion with honesty. There is no speech code enforced.</p>

<p>They also have a great and successful writing curriculum. Writing is part of not just English but also Economics, Physics, History, Graphic arts etc. By graduation time the students will have produced several 10+page research papers and what seems like enumerable essays.</p>

13

<p>Excellent faculty, with a very few exceptions. Outstanding music and art departments. The Counseling office knows what it’s doing and has figured out how to get college application materials where they’re supposed to be on time, with little need for parental oversight. Good information available online and IRL on the entire college application process. Best of all, grades are not weighted and students are not ranked. This policy has nearly eliminated, as far as I can tell, the jockeying for GPA micro-points so common among students (and parents) at many similar high-performing schools.</p>

14

<p>What’s so good about ours. Very large (larger than many medium size colleges :)). Amazing sports, performing arts, communications, and especially arts and industrial technology (as in, they’re offering a class where the students build a real house indoors from scratch over a year). Lots of world languages, every AP and IB class imaginable; excellent science labs. </p>

<p>What’s not so good. Size is too big, faculty is subject to the laws of large numbers (there’s a few clowns in every school but with huge faculty…) peer pressure due to over-wealthy parents, too much competition, lack of academic support, counseling is pretty much DIY, and little emphasis on helping kids make the 8th to 9th grade transition (this is more of a middle school problem tho).</p>

<p>Despite a 4-figure graduating class only a handful of kids go to top 20 (Ivies and top 10/20 schools or military service academies). 2/3rds end up in the state flagships. This may be more because parents are tapped out financially to keep up with the Joneses tho, not due to academic performance :).</p>

15

<p>Another one who loves the diversity of our high school. Two things stand out for me. The first is the strength of their music programs. We have three orchestras, at least three jazz bands, a freshman choir, an upperclassman choir, and an amazing Gospel choir. In addition there are always lots of very good rock and jazz bands and they have free concerts for the kids at a school with the rock bands on a regular basis.</p>

<p>The second thing is how they manage to work on a shoe string. Our Science Olympiad made it to States all but one of the years my boys were there despite having virtually no budget at all. They were competing (and beating) schools like Stuyvesant or suburban schools with budgets of thousands of dollars and some who ran classes for Science Olympiad instead of just having it as an after school activity. It was always a big question whether the team would get money for the bus to take them to the competitions. Similarly our college guidance managed to do a very good job despite a ridiculous load. They had streamlined the process, with much of the advice in really excellent handouts, and several big informative meetings for parents and students. In addition to a college fair they invited ad com people to come and give an evening of talks about different aspects of college admissions.</p>

16

<p>My DS (senior) magnet HS has challenged him, prepared him for college & fed his thirst for all things engineering and given him the opportunity to be around like-minded peers and faculty. My middle son (sophomore) on the other hand attends our district HS. He has made new friends quickly and is content with his experience thus far. Unfortunately, I have yet to find anything extraordinary about our district HS.</p>

17

<p>Something i really liked about our high school was the “we are in it together and we take care of each other” ethos.</p>

<p>Academically–a very tough, competitive high school (consistently rated one of the very, very top in Ohio).</p>

<p>Less than 800 students…and they all support one another. The stands are packed on football Friday nights…and on Saturdays for both boys and girls soccer. The biggest fan of the soccer team was the captain of the football team, who would paint himself blue at all the soccer games. And the drum line would come to the soccer games…boys and girls.</p>

<p>And when a member of a sports team sang with Ensemble (top vocal group)–the whole team would show. Same for school plays and orchestra performances. Captain of the wrestling team was also an artist—every team in the school went to the art shows.</p>

<p>Such an unusual, supportive atmosphere. It encouraged students to put themselves in more than one pigeonhole.</p>

<p>And the students really took care of one another. There was a boy in S3’s class with severe developmental delays…special ed student…the whole class always took care of him. He never ate alone in the cafeteria, always had buddies at all school events.</p>

<p>Senior year, he was nominated for Homecoming Court, along with 9 other young men…the week of the voting by the whole school, the other 9 members of the court all wore t-shirts saying “Vote for (kid’s name) for King”–and, of course, he was elected.</p>

<p>Our school has the tradition that the Homecoming Queen is elected at football homecoming, and the King is elected at basketball homecoming, and that the King and Queen open the Prom.</p>

<p>The Queen and her date included this boy in all of their homecoming plans…they and their group picked him up in their limousine, took him to dinner with them, and the Queen had practiced the first dance with them…at the end of the dance, they took him to the afterparty and then home in the limousine.</p>

<p>The best part is that no one had to tell the students to do this. They never considered doing otherwise.</p>

18

<p>I would say that the school offers excellent opportunities for all kids. Most of the kids go on to a 4 year college, 96%, some go on to military and a few to community colleges. The few kids that go on to community colleges/tech schools have access to programs for them as well as the kids that go on to 4 year schools. For kids that are very accelerated, they have options for those kids as well. There is a great community feel at the school. They don’t have a lot of major discipline issues, for the most part the kids are good kids, not interested in the label on your jeans or the car you drive, there is a lot of school spirit as well. The school encourages kids to be in school–yes attend classes but also stay after school, meet with teachers if needed, use the computer labs, etc., etc. The campus is busy from 5:00 AM until 10:00 PM with various activities, etc.</p>

19

<p>Very inclusive.</p>

<p>Lots of EC’s and opportunities/encouragement for every student to be involved.</p>

<p>Great communication with parents.</p>

<p>Little favoritism/politics.</p>

20

<p>Our HS is very small and most of the people (not me) are very affluent, which means all the kids have iPhones and a lot of disposable income. News (good and bad) travels fast, like the time the football team allegedly hazed incoming team members by having them lie down on the locker room floor, shirts off, while live lobsters crawled over them, nipping at them.</p>

<p>I guess it’s better than being smeared with foie gras…</p>

<p>What do I love about the school? If your child is sick or in the hospital, you know the teachers will cut them some slack on assignments because they already know about it from everyone else.</p>