I've only been on this campus twice for track meets. this rating is based off visuals and campus environment, which i got to see during warmup jogs. overall very spacious, plentiful parking, the track is like a greek stadium. there are night lights, two exits, home + away bleachers, a commentary stand, an inner field, a lil walkway behind the bleachers to warmup jog around. i can see how it used to be a college campus. read more

Independence High School - Track Soccer Field - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - San Jose, California

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Overall, independence highschool has terrible math teachers. There are multiple math teachers here who don't teach and blame the kids for their terrible teaching. read more

Loved it here teachers are amazing they are always willing to give you the help that you need and spend their personal time to help

Overall, Minh Nguyen is a terrible math teacher. His teaching style is awful--he barely explains anything, only gives one example per lesson, and then expects us to figure everything out on our own. His tests are always harder than what he actually teaches, which makes no sense. On top of that, he's way too mean. Instead of helping students who struggle, he just embarrasses them by yelling in front of the whole class. It's unprofessional and discouraging. A good teacher should be patient and willing to explain things, but he does neither. Learning math is already difficult, and with a teacher like him, it just becomes even more frustrating. read more

It's a Great School. With great teachers, an awesome gym. PE was my favorite subject. read more

Independence High School - Large Gym - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - San Jose, California

a lot of dang members attend here, there were literally a fight when I walked to get boba across seriously have no idea why this place isn't shut down yet read more

I have many friends when I come here. They are vietnamese also with me. The teacher is so good

I've been doing my student teaching here for about a month. It's a huge High School and can be a bit intimidating at first, but once you know your way around, it's pretty straight forward. Staff is pretty friendly, and if you need any help they are quite pleased to do so. It's also a beautiful campus for a High School. That's not saying much, but it's pretty nice. Not sure if I'd want my kids to come here, but I'd consider it. The school has a lot of spirit, that much I can say for sure. read more

Independence is a big school. Everybody thinks that's its total weakness, but it's by far its strength. If you're motivated and put yourself in the right classes, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more competitive group of students--at least that's how I felt about the bunch of 2007. Every subject has horrible teachers, but if you're not doing your own research by knowing beforehand using RateMyTeachers, that's your bad. I've heard things that we're not as spirited as Piedmont, but think again. Go to any of the Independence pep rallies, and you'll see that Inde, despite its lack of premiere funds, is one of the most spirited schools you'll ever come through. They're not that great at sports, but other extracurricular activities they have here are top-notch. Independence's 76th Cavalry Marching Band has been top in the nation for years, the school has a theatrical dance company called IndepenDANCE, and the school's Filipino Club -- Mabuhay hosts Pilipino Cultural Nights that make college organizations look like middle schools. High school is what you make of it. If I had the chance, I'd go back. The only thing I hated was waking up early. It's not the ghetto school it used to be. It's a place where people can be glad to attend now. It's only real problem now is its food faires, where you have to use tickets instead of actual money. That's a waste of time and effort. read more

Here for a club water polo weekend tournament. The pool facility is huge. Options for deep pool for the 10 meter platform. The seats are concrete, so bring a pad. There is little to no shade so bring an umbrella. What did I learn today? Played 2 games but won three. One team flat out did not show. read more

Mr. Goldsmith, Physical Education teacher, is amazing at what he does. He communicates well and wants what is best for his students. He encourages students to exercise, as it will help in the long run of their lives. He does games to make it more interesting, especially because high schoolers don't just feel like running all the time. His class helps the students attempt new things, learn about sportsmanship, and to try your best. read more

Class of 04' This place is huge. Having that said over and over by previous yelpers, my input is that it's so populated, the stereotypical/common experiences of high school does not exist there. There is no cafeteria the whole school sits in (we all eat outside rain or shine spread all over campus), there is no one jock the girls all want to be with, no bully (just a fights that occur every single day with our own cops and regulators bringing people in with golf carts. Overall, my experience was o.k. made some good friends and loved the Multi-cultural rallies though I heard they don't host them anymore. read more

Why not. I graduated from Independence High School and I would say I enjoyed my time there. Joining a sport and clubs made it much more fun and interesting. Teachers were mostly good and those AP classes are tough. Also, the assemblies, fights, smoking restrooms, and fire drills were also interesting. read more

Independence High, also known as "Indy", is the largest public high school in the San Jose. Originally, it was suppose to be a community college. Instead, it educated nearly 4,000 high school kids each year since 1976. This year I attended our twenty year class reunion. Yes, I'm from the Class of 1990. Prior to our reunion, I began to prepare myself mentality. Since graduation, I did not keep in contact with anyone. I didn't know everyone on campus. So I had to flip through my old yearbooks and re-familiarize myself with some old friends and faces. I began to smile and laugh at the old yearbook signatures - so many forgotten stories, jokes, and wishes (great moments as well as bad memories here at Indy). Since our graduating class had over 1,000 students, I wasn't sure who I was going to see at the reunion. I had to reminisce to avoid any awkward moments of, "Hi Walter! Do you remember me?" Here's what I remembered from Indy (1986-1990): 1. UCO Classes (University Career Opportunities). This was our college prep classes. I meet a majority of my high school friends through this amazing program. Thanks to UCO, I was able to land five college acceptance letters. 2. Our facilities: full size gymnasium, Olympic diving pool, full size tennis courts, massive stadium, full scale baseball, track, and soccer fields, the bell tower, the Villas (quad areas where everyone mingled during break and lunch), immaculate landscaping, mini-villa libraries and one the public library, our planetarium, auto shop garage with a driver's ED program, graphics department, in-house security staff. My hangout spots with my friends were: A and B villas. My favorite make out spots were: ????? LOL! 3. Our sports team: We dominated in football, basketball, and volleyball. Not to mention we were top class in the nation with our marching band. 4. Social scene: This was the pinnacle of the late 80's music scene especially for Hip-Hop. We used to have lunch time performances by our local DJ's and Hot 97.7 use to bring in recording artists. Yes, I was a huge Run-DMC and L.L. Cool J fan sporting my Adidas sweat suits and the latest athletic sneakers to school. 5. Memorable Celebrity Moments: Rev. Jesse Jackson visited Indy giving us an inspirational speech about our future. Our teachers and coaches challenged the SF Forty Niners to a game of basketball for our charity event. 6. Favorite Teachers: Lisa Lane (English), Mrs. Bowen (English), Tim Barr (Algebra), Mr. Banks (Algebra II), Ms. Escobar (Spanish), Mr. Evans (English), more to be announced.... I don't have my year book in front of me. =) Fellow Yelpers from Indy: Mikey U, Jean N., Vicky L, More info about our amazing high school (history and stats): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_High_School_%28San_Jose,_California%29 read more

Independence High School - Widescreen view of the gym during events. - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - San Jose, California

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I really enjoy the running track here! Great place to go for a run. The track is a bit cushiony and a lap is longer than a normal lap. I believe 3 laps equals to a mile. NOTE: Try to find out when they are holding a home game, they won't let you utilize the track during game hours. read more

I loved this school when I went here! Lots of students, lots of diversity, activities and so forth. The best part about this school is definitely the rallies and school dances ha. Sucky part? The counselors duhhhh. And the sport teams? HA Well I was in the electronics academy so I was assigned to B Villa and my counselor was Ms. Montes. She was ok, wasn't helpful in helping me change my schedule, I had to ask the teacher of the class I wanted to take to let me add the class(Mr. Chang, work study, he's awesome). She also never really helped me with further school paths and choices for college. I do recommend anyone to join an academy though because you have the same teachers every year, and everyone in the academy is in your class, and you get to go on field trips. So I just came back here on Friday to request a transcript. The person in charge in the H Building is very unfriendly. Didn't even say hello, or crack a smile. Damn lady maybe you should work at a jail instead. And whats up with the public library that's near the H Building? I think it's closed now. Looks all dirty, and messed up. I feel sorry for it :(... read more

Considering where this school is located, the teachers, students, and administration are doing a hell of a job. The school has 4,000+ students. There are over 40 languages spoken there, the school is over 100 acres in size, the area is poor, there is a huge migrant population, and so many obstacles that it is amazing that the place stays open. The students are great. They are just teenagers trying to get on with life. One problem the campus does have is that students have a tendency to be lazy (I guess that's part of being a teen). Students have admitted that they are lazy! Geez. At least they are honest. There are gangbangers on the campus and around the campus. But these assholes are everywhere, unfortunately. It's too bad the gangbangers don;t just go back under the rock they crawl out from uner and die there. Many of the problems the school faces are from gangbanger losers that come to the campus to try and ruin things for the good kids. The teachers try and reach kids as best they can. But the kids bring a lot of crap from home and the neighborhood. At Parent Night, it is rare to have more than 3 parents show up for a period! Granted some work, buit there is a mentality that the teachers need to fight. The teachers feel that they are alone in trying to help the students. There are tons of programs available for students on the campus: a health center (with a doctor); mental health help; super sports facilities; a city library, a freakin planetarium!; and specialized academies (especially good is the Academy of Finance). This school is as good as the students and the area want it to be and as good as the politicians will let it be. Independence is a misunderstood school and is unique in San Jose. Students don't get how good the school really is. It has so much to offer, if the kids will take advantage of it... GO SIXERS read more

It's sad... how many people rag on Independence High School. Or how many funny looks I get from people when they found out I went there. Overall if I was a parent, I probably wouldn't want my child to attend this school. The saving grace of this school when I attended was the superb AP courses they offered and the amazing teachers teaching them. Unfortunately in the 7 years since I graduated, most of them have retired or moved on to better things. All I have to say is that 4 stars. One for each year of great college prep that this school gave me so that I went to a pretty darned good college. And there is just something so satisfying when these snobby parents of kids from Saratoga can't fathom how I managed to get into a top notch college from such a "ghetto high school" and their kids are at De Anza.... read more

Ahh yes... Good 'ol Indy! Throwback! Much love to my classmates of 2002! *Second to None, baby!* Shout out to Lady Sixers of the Swim Team and Sammy Sixer! If you asked me the year of or after I graduated, I would've bagged on this school so much! I hate everything and everyone at this school. I always cut and found ways to ditch school bc I hated it so much. But now that I look back on everything I went through and all the important people I met through Indy, I'd do everything all over again. I'm not a fan of this high school bc you get swallowed up in all the craziness, the drama and the hype. But if you're serious, this high school has so many challenging classes. I'm sorry to hear that so many people had such a bad time at Indy (don't get me wrong, I went through A LOT of bad shit and then some...) but I still have to give it up: it was fun but tough. My favorite event at Indy has to be the Renaissance Fair. It's corny but it's so cool to get "married," eat lots of yummy foods, get flower wreaths, and watch all the LOTR fanatics dance on stage. Haha! Who remembers those crazy rallies? Either you went or you didn't. Remember how many bomb threats we got after 9/11 happened? Stupid seniors would always win the events! All the fresh meat would sobb in their white tees, soph-meat in their red gear and all the juniors in that true blue gear! I still have my American flag senior bandanna. :) Independence may not be the American-dream high school, but it gave me the skills to make it in the REAL world both professionally and socially. When I get frustrated in life, I think back to what I remember from Indy: get to the lunch lines early before all the Domino pizzas sell out! read more

Sure why not, let's review a high school. Warning, I might be bias...but then again, I try my best to tell it like it is. At one time, this school used to be one of the Most Distinguished Schools. From what I understand, it is far from that these days. I have lots of great memories of this school. I do recall how massive the school grounds are. The setup reminds me much of De Anza College. If history serves me right, it was originally designed to be a local community college...which would explain its size and layout. My graduating class was approximately 1400 large. The school population was at least 5000+ that year. You knew when the school was over-populated if we couldn't hold all of our students in the main gym. Again, unsure of the quality of this school. Definitely do your research. Lots of extra curricular activities (during my days): Marching Band, Independance (dance company), Cheerleading, Sports, etc. read more

Wow, ok, after reading through the other reviews, it's hard not to be a little upset at a few of the people. At Independence we have everything, including the good and the bad. After being at IHS for four years it is easy for me to say that I found myself amongst all the chaos. In the real world who is going to hold your hand 24/7 to make sure you get through. One of the lessons I learned from Indy is that you need to be responsible for yourself and at least have the common sense to be able to find things or ask someone for help. Yes, it is easy to fall through the cracks if you let yourself fall, and at the age of a high school kid, if you let yourself fall, that's your own damn fault. Independence is diverse, has caring staff, has an amazing range of clubs, everything that you can ask for from a High School. Yes, we also have the bad kids, but show me one school that has 100% great kids with the diversity and economic instability that we have in East San Jose. Oh, That's right, you can't. Thanks, Go Sixers! read more

A planetarium, Olympic-sized swimming pool, public library on-site, theater, auto shop, 2 gyms (small and large), tennis courts, stadium, dance studio, and who knows what else I'm forgetting, and it's a public school! There's not another high school that can compare in terms of amenities. Yep - it's a big campus. Yep, it's in a less than tony part of town. Yep, it's got 4000 or so students, including but not limited to pregnant teens, jerks, nerds, jocks, stoners, gang members, freaks, and (gasp!) regular kids. Yep, there's probably cliques, fights, drugs, bullying, and more. Really though folks, show me a high school, even a private one, where most of these problems aren't present in some form. I bet if you really look you'll see these problems almost everywhere. Like others have said, IHS shines in what the kids can get out of it if they just take advantage of the programs. There are magnet programs (the Space Science & Tech magnet is amazing). There are all the sports one would expect plus Winter Guard, Winter Percussion, Botball, and a plethora of clubs including a very large and active Interact club. The marching band wins championships and recognition and has for 30 years. The curriculum offers AP courses and variety. Most of the teachers and staff I dealt with were caring and helpful. The reasons I don't give 5 stars to IHS is that it needs some more repairs (which I believe are coming summer 2008 with the new bond funds), and I was told the security folks need to make sweeps through the bathrooms more often to clear out the 'smokers'. If you are within the boundaries, give it a second look before you start browsing private schools, or Piedmont for that matter. You might be surprised. read more

This is one of the best schools around. Of course there are certain student who have no respect for teachers, other student, etc. But every school has that. I would definitely recommend Independence High School for any parent looking at nearby schools to send their children to. The campus is so large, and spread out that there is little minimal accounts of bullying. Another perk about this school is its programs. Programs like the Avid program and the preforming arts program, just to name a couple, are what make this school truly great. The teachers at Independence are also very dedicated to their job and strive to help each student succeed. It is a very welcoming campus with a very diverse student population. Again, I would highly recommend this school for any that are looking at high schools for students. read more

This school will hold my entire high school memories. There are just too many students and so much diversity that it is difficult to judge this school. If it weren't for my friends, I'd hate this place.. When people think of IHS, most people would assume that it's a bad school overrun with gangsters and juvenile delinquents. Fights occur somewhat often, but then again, there are alot of overly achieving students here as well. Independence has A LOT of clubs, and more people attend our dances than any other school in the district. We're one of the largest high schools in America (I think we're 5th?) As for other activities, we have a great marching band + colorguard, the well-known "Idance"performers, the largest art department in the west coast (or so I've heard from my art teacher) and a wide variety of sports and specialty classes such as ballet or piano. As with all schools, there are good and bad aspects - what you think of this school depends on you. read more

American Cup Jiu Jitsu tournament. SWEET! read more

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I wish I could go back in time and do it all over...Best times of my life. Too bad after my Sophomore year the football team just took a turn for the worse, other than that send your kids! read more

I like the swimming classes they have in the summer , this school is super gigantic , it was suppose to be a college but they made it into a high school read more

Independence High school holds many memories for me both good and bad. The school will teach you real life situations with regard to diversity and acceptance though which is good, you wont leave here sheltered. However, it is a large school in a tough area where its easy for you to fall thru the cracks. There's over 4,000 students and some do get left behind or forgotten. The faculty mean well but I'm sure there's a better education elsewhere. I would not want my kid to go here, just a personal preference. This school would always have fights and be very cliquey. I'm glad that period of time is over. C/O '99 read more

Huge school that's college size. Olympic diving and swimming pool. 2 Gyms and multiple sport fields. Full theatre to support plays, musicals, symphony... Heavily populated with minorities, and most of which have been asian or latino. This school is part of the East Side union school district. I remember this school having very gifted athletes but many of which did not make grades or was sucked into the violence, hey this is East side San Jose, what did you expect. Still though, this school had many magnet programs and gave the ability and chance to excel. With over 4,000 students, the ratio of teacher-students is good at around 23. Each villa is pretty much it's own school and it will take all 4 years to get to know most of the students. read more

Class of '04 Best teacher I've ever had was Ms. Medberry. Worst teacher is Mr. Farnham and Ms. Jabri. Overall good school but there were so many fights back then. I hope they've increased their security these past few years. read more

Took my daughter out of this school because the district sent me letters saying how horrible the students have been doing on statewide tests for the last six years and also everytime she tried out for a sport she didn't get picked when she was way better than half who made it this school is racist and accomodates to Asians mainly I transferred her to Piedmont she has made volleyball and cheerleading everything she tried out for so it proved my point school is horribley over crowded and That's why kids fail used to be a great school until they got greedy and took way to many kids Piedmont is smaller and ran smarter they don't over exert there teachers and students get what they need read more

yo. 1) graduate of 2007. i must say from my freshmen year till now, this school has really turned around. 2) it isn't the brown, ghetto looking school over populated by gangsters anymore. 3) but its still filled with 4000+ students and thats not counting administrators 4) sure fights happen, but its not as crazy as it was before. we had our mess of principal and activities director, but its good now. 5) you won't only get a learning expericen in school but also in life enjoi. read more

I just graduated last year in 2007. And I hear a lot about parents saying "Independence is a bad place". It also comes from other middle school students. Me personally, I would send my child here because they offer great support and the teachers aren't what middle school thinks. They offer extra help or extra credit and every year and 5/6 teachers would accept late work. People only said it's bad because probably from the past times of independence, where they had multiple fights at once and everything. But now Inde turned it. You can feel much safer, since all those smokers and crap are nearly gone. I would say support for the students is grade "A". It's kids that bring unnecessary stuff to the school. The school also tries to reach out to the students and try to understand them. They know how it was to go through high school and so on. They know sometimes even the simplest mistakes are made and are forgiven. But heavy mistakes are not forgiven. They punished and most of the time the students understood what they did and just changed a part of themselves. The support is great. It also prepares students greatly for college. And most of the students who graduated got a good life. Only the students who resolved their mistakes and had opened mind. And of course there are still students who drop-out or just want to be all out gangster. Back then, I would see one or two fights every month because some idiots couldn't hold in their racial slurs. But overall I made friends pretty quick over the past years. Students still look like gangsters but when it comes to settling down and doing whats right. It's done. Basically the same thing happens in Inde as in middle school. People still trying to be gangster and trash the place as usual. But I gotta hand it to Inde because they changed that all around. I seen lots of gangsters during my senior year and they would throw their trash, miss and pick it up and throw it back in. The most surprising one was that they started to get back into the community and started helping. They helped most the students and community. They cleaned after people and students. Also just not the seniors but all the other freshmans, sophomore, and juniors too. Overall, this would be a benefiting school. read more

Class of 2008, been here for 4 year. School was known for it diversity. Having to experience that is unique, getting to know people more.

I don't think you could go anywhere else in the Bay Area (other than James Logan High School) that would have such a diverse group of people. Yes, we have gangbangers, murderers, hormonal pregnant girls, and a couple of dickwad jocks... but the school also had some of the best colorguard teams in the state. The band was awesome. The choirs toured overseas.. and we had some Steve Urkel geniuses. The staff was pretty supportive IF you showed interest in school. They have THE best AP teachers on the planet.. except a certain English Honors teacher.. but I won't name her, haha. She may be trying to rekindle her younger years by creating a Yelp account of her own, hahaha. Hm, the rallies were always ruined by a stink bomb of some sort, but we had the most fucking awesome Multi-cultural Rally everrrrr. So don't hate, where else could you get all that? read more

I would have to say that my experience there was good. The academic structure's for allowing the Electronics Academy Program to exist made a huge impact on going to school everyday. It allow many of us to gain knowledge in the real working fields around silicon valley, before there valley itself blew up in many huge companies. I was able to work at Lockheed for summer credit and for work experience during my Senior year which cut my day in half on campus. That was a great benefit to make decent wages and to learn the many fields of electronics and companies that were involved in our on site mini campus. The teachers were good and classes small so it made getting help if needed very easy and one on one if needed. I was there from 1986-1990. I have maintained contacts from friends in that era, and every once in awhile search for others that I have lost contact with. The music back days with cameron paul mixx it up at Studio 47 and the festivals in San Jose downtown never a dull moment. read more

aww, my high school is on yelp! i miss those days. being the Polynesian President 2005-2006, was my highlight of the year. having to balance classes and my favorite passion of being the president was so hard but definitely worth it! Multi cultural rallys were the fun rallys throughout the four years ive been there. education wise, it was okayyyy. it was true, the junior year was difficult for me. so for those of you still getting your education, have fun in high school because i did at independence. p.s. during my year we had so many artists that came through to perform for all of us so class of 2006 was the best! our snr. prom was held at the fairmont hotel along with "The Team" performing for us on stage! & also, winning the text msg. challenge from Wild 949 for TPain to perform. i loved high school! yay! read more

You guys are all wrong there is nothing wrong with this school, maybe its just your heads. I am currently attending IHS as a Senior, I transfered to this school in the beginning of the school year as a Sophmore. I was very shy in the beginning, but the people there are very outgoing and made me open up to people. There isn't a day that thought of transfering out of this school. This school changed the way I was, before i used to be very shy and was afraid of of being myself. On the other hand, there are ton of kids here you could be friends, who are very open to new students espiseially myself. I'm glad that i transferred to this school, there are many clubs, activities and sports events you could join. It may look like a ghetto school, but once you take a loook around you'll find it very exquisite. If you didnt know, last year on the news, they recommended us the "Cool School" out of ESUHSD. They said, "that the students was very generous to us when we asked for directions and they also said that the students around them knew were all out-going like the whole schoool were friends. thats all i have to say I hope we shall have lot of new students coming to this school, your kids or the student yourself wouldn't refgret transferring here. This letter mkay have lots of errors, but please dont mind :D read more