Offers great classes. Many AP and AICE options.
But most staff and administration, expect for a select few, are some of the most condescending people Ive ever met in my life. They seriously need to take a look at these people's interpersonal skills when hiring them because instead of listening to students or parents and providing helpful and calm responses, or even instead of listening to each other, they instead interrupt, yell, or dismiss you, making you feel stupid. They even laugh and make fun of the students when they think they aren't listening. We are, by the way.
They are also quite disorganized, expecting students to complete summer assignments but not releasing schedules until a few days before, or even the morning of, the first day of school. It's ridiculous. You can't complete assignments for classes you don't even know if you have.
Because the students find out their schedules so late, and the staff mess them up anyway, all of the students (obviously) want to change their classes because they were given the wrong ones. But instead of assisting in an organized fashion, like calling one class period and grade to the office at a time, they lock everyone out of the office for the next few weeks and yell at them if they try to go into the counselor's office to speak with somebody whether or not it's related to class schedules. Then, when they finally let you in the office 1-1.5 months after school started, the students can either no longer switch classes because it's too late or they switch and are now lost because they missed the first 2 months of class.
Also, picking up graduation tickets this past school year was the most horrible and infuriating thing Ive ever witnessed. The seniors had a picnic outside for an hour or two, then were sent to the auditorium to pick up their graduation tickets. Instead of seating all of the students and calling down each row in an organized fashion to get their tickets, they leave the students outside (right outside the door) in the 90-degree Florida heat when they've already been outside and want to go inside. Some of these kids are animals and push and shove, but that's nothing new.
What is new is the way the staff handled it. They let all the students (I think about 600) crush each other against the door for over an hour while 2, maybe 3 staff members were inside giving out tickets. To 600 kids. The staff would open the door ever so slightly to let in 3 or 4 students and then close it again. It was a free for all. The staff would occasionally come outside and say, "This is the most ridiculous thing Ive ever seen. I can't believe these kids." Without doing a single thing to help, just complaining and yelling at them. Meanwhile all the students are crushing each other trying to get inside. Students were crushed in the crowd and some students were even crowd surfing. I cannot make this up. Students were crying and many were in the office trying to tell the staff, but all they said was, "Do you want me to find your graduation tickets for you? I can go around the back and get it for you" No, I don't care about the graduation tickets anymore. They aren't going anywhere. I care about the 600 kids out in the hot sun without shade crushing each other to get inside. Fix the problem. Don't band aid it to make only the ones who complain happy to shut them up. Ridiculous. I asked around, apparently similar things happened last year too. I can't speak for any years before that.
Be better for these kids. They didn't ask to be here, but you did. Act like you want to be here or quit and find something that makes you happy in life rather than making yourself miserable all day every day and acting like it's not your own fault, because it is. Only YOU control where you are, and ONLY you control who you are. Thank you to those teachers, staff, and faculty who care about their jobs and these kids.
Two stars because of good classes. Without taking the classes into account, I would give it zero stars if I could. Don't send your kid here unless you have to, they will come home complaining. read more
