Every once in a while, you read reviews that so fly in the face of what your experience was, it makes you wonder how people can possibly evaluate the same situation so differently.
My son attended Don Lugo for four years. I went with him to what I thought was going to be a parental orientation--it turned out to be a rah-rah with cheerleaders--including two male ones in short shorts--dancing around and a few speeches. Geez, I thought it was going to be about academics, parking, books, etc. We left after about an hour of this. Should have been a warning.
Next, I have never, ever been to an institution that SMELLED so badly. Every time I went to pick up my son, or went to a parent activity, the hallways smelled like butt or fart. Kids can be smelly, but does that school have a ventilation system? My son told me it was always that way, and hot as well. Students were jammed into overloaded classes. He also told me that quite often the stink from pot fills the air...I had to experience that myself, and sure enough, he was right.
While my son was not bullied there--he's a pretty big kid--he saw tons of bullying. All the time. Enough goes on at that campus that they have a full time police officer there. Amazingly, my son watched every day as the same kids left during break to go to the local pot shop (the one guy had a fake ID and of course a "Doctors Slip" and then would come back and sell it to other kids. My son, who had longer hair, was constantly bugged to either buy, or did he want to sell. You know, longer hair must mean he's into drugs!
Some of the teachers were kind, but most that I talked to had an uncanny, similar air about them of having just "given up". His computer teacher was awesome, but there was a math teacher there--anyone who went there knows his name--who was such a venomous weasel that he should not be anywhere near kids...ever. Even the other teachers would roll their eyes when I mentioned his name, he was that bad.
Preston Carr, the Principal, was the one bright star at that school. A great guy, but obviously, he could only do so much. He devised a remote-learning program and asked if we would be interested--he liked my son as they has spoken a number of times and Mr. Carr had high praise for him. We enrolled him in the course, which was 90% at home study, and my son's grades went from C- to A-. Just amazing. I think he learned more in his senior year than his previous three years.
This would be a one star school save for Mr. Carr, who is a 5 star man. A major disappointment, and I wince to this day driving past that somber beige set of buildings. read more