This school's policies are completely and utterly unreasonable. There are about 180 days in a school year, yet you get detention on the 6th day you are late. You cannot be absent more than 5 days per marking period or a total of 18 days per year. Mind you, a marking period is about 2 or 2.5 months. They do not care about the students at all. The administration has all these expectations for the kids. They don't even care if these rigorous standards stress them out to the point where they have breakdowns in class. I remember walking in the hall and seeing someone on the floor. My friend and I walked up to them and ask them if they were ok. The kid got up and said "I'm just mentally not okay and I fell and I didn't feel like getting up". We offered to take him to the nurse, but he insisted on not taking him because he did not want to deal with the harsh consequences. The administration and their rules and standards make kids feel this way and they don't care at all. You get detentions after 6 lates and 18 absences, but they do nothing to fix the reason why students are late. There is only one way to get into the school in the morning. Every morning, there is traffic because of all the cars trying to squeeze into the one entrance. But they blame lates on the students, not on the fact that there is traffic or that some students have to come from far away. They do not try to help the students, they only punish them and expect to fix their actions in order to avoid future punishments. Numerous studies have found that punishment is not that effective, yet it is their way of dealing with everything. And there is nothing that parents or students can do if they have a problem because they do not take it seriously. So many students have gone to Mr. Rotella regarding teachers and policies, but he basically just tells them that that is the way it is and they should suck it in. Why? Because the administration only cares about the students following the rules because they want to make them look good compared to PCTI. Their AP classes are a joke. Half of the teachers do not know what they're doing. While there are some good teachers in the school, a lot of them are just terrible. But the biggest thing is the favoritism and racism that is in this school. The school places so much emphasis on the football team, even though they aren't that good. Twice a year, they take students out of 8th period and force them to sit in the gym to praise the football team and cheerleaders. Not only that, but the VP, Mr. Settembre is racist. The students and teachers know it. He gives harsher punishments to Arabics, Hispanics, and Blacks. Whether you are a good student or not, if you're a minority, he has no mercy. He does not care about the reason why you got in trouble or what the circumstances were. If a student talked back to a teacher, whether that teacher insulted the student or started an argument with them, the student was blamed and punished for standing up for themselves (and yes this has happened before. What amazing teachers!) And another thing about the administration, they have no interest in any of their students unless they are troublemakers. Mr. Rotella and Mr. Settembre do not recognize any of the scholars at PV, but they are quick to recognize any troublemakers. In addition, they do not value the opinion of students. If you disagree with a teacher or refuse to follow their orders (whether they are right or wrong), you can get suspended for that. So if a teacher tells you to jump off a bridge, you better do it or else you'll get detention! They don't ask students how they could make the school better. And God forbid you rebel. I remember my sophomore year, some students were sitting outside of PV to rebel against them. What happened? They were all suspended and seniors were not allowed to walk at graduation. If you are planning to attend PV, I suggest to apply to PCTI or Paramus Catholic or any other school. The PV administration just does whatever they want to do. The administration for the most part is racist. They don't listen to students and they always protect the teachers whenever a student has a problem with teachers. This is not "the place to be" as they claim. They do not allow growth for students. The administration is stubborn and reluctant to change any of their absurd policies. PV is not a high school that prepares students for real life. They teach them to blindly obey rules without questioning and they teach you that there are no second chances in life (even though there are). They teach you that it is not okay to speak your mind when something is wrong. And most importantly, they teach you to put your head down and not speak up because you are only a student and students don't know any better. Despite what their social media claims, PV is NOT the place to be. read more
