Does your local high school have a good reputation?

[BWVDenise]

I thought ours did, until this morning. I was in the store and overheard a conversation where someone said that the high school's nickname was "Heroin High!" My dh and I both went to HS here and the town's school system has had a great reputation for a lot of years. Now I realize that drugs are a widespread problem and there are no exemptions, but that comment really shocked me. I have 3 kids in elementary school and I thought we had put ourselves in a location where they would get a really good education...now I'm not so sure!

 

[monkeyboy]

Denise,
It can be scary as times change.
Sad but true


I do not live where I went to HS, so I am not sure what it's like now

 

[mrsv98]

Well, I have the "honor" of having graduated from Glenbrook North HS....also known as the "Powder Puff Football" riot school.

 

[minniecarousel]

I think it's not unusual for most schools to have some kind of controversy every few years. The school that my DSs went to had an incident where a group of our students beat up a couple of students from a neighboring HS after a football game. It was a black mark on the school for a few years. Drugs are a problem at ALL high schools - some are worse than others. That too, runs in streaks. You just need to keep the lines of communication open with your kids and KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!!

 

[caitycaity]

a school can be excellent academically and still have major drug/alcohol/social problems. my high school is an excellent example. it is probably the best public high school in the area. i really feel i got an excellent education there. however, drugs and alcohol problems were rampant and i hated a lot of non-academic things about the school. in part, i think a lot of people turned to substance abuse because at times the academic pressures were so great.

i made it through though, and attending that school definitely helped me get into good colleges.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Also keep in mind a lot of the druggie kids are considered "losers" by the other students. At my school if you were popular, or at least had friends, you did not associate with the obnoxious kids who were on drugs. They were definately a minority. I was never a "popular" kid but I was in band/chorus etc and had friends and never wanted to associate with the 6 or 7 kids who we knew did all kinds of drugs. This was , of course, in the arly 90's.

I would be more concerned with drinking in high school, as kids tend to get more sucked into that.

 

[LvsTnk]

Drugs are at every high school.....keep that in mind as your kids get older and stay educated.....it's hard to raise teens.

 

[caitycaity]

At my school if you were popular, or at least had friends, you did not associate with the obnoxious kids who were on drugs.

that's funny, at my school the popular kids WERE the druggies! (this was the early/mid 90's also)

 

[tiggersmom2]

Originally posted by caitycaity
that's funny, at my school the popular kids WERE the druggies! (this was the early/mid 90's also)

LOL Caity, That is the same way it was at my highschool. The lowely geeks and nerds like myself were too busy studying to worry about drugs.

 

[CBRorBust]

LOL!

Well..I *thought* my high school had a good reputation. That is until another closed minded Dis'er informed me that my city is infested with druggies and slums...

But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that their high school probably had just as many drugs as mine did if not more.

 

[wdwgirl03]

My high school has a pretty good reputation academically...

 

[Bob Slydell]

Originally posted by CBRorBust
LOL!

Well..I *thought* my high school had a good reputation. That is until another closed minded Dis'er informed me that my city is infested with druggies and slums...

But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that their high school probably had just as many drugs as mine did if not more.

Why does that make them "close minded"? They might be wrong, they might be right, but either way, I'm not seeing the close minded link?

 

[CBRorBust]

Why does that make them "close minded"?

Well it might not make them closed minded to others, but for me generalizing an entire group of people because of "what you've heard" and not what you know is closed minded.

Trust me, if this was the first case of foot in mouth I had experienced with this person it would be different. But I think I've read enough comments from this person to base my decision on.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Absolutely not. We dont chose to send our ds there either. Besides the academic issues, like the neighbors never seem to do projects, reports etc. Hello, how do they expect these kids to be ready for college. The school did have the reputation around here as one year having the largest amount of students drop out. They attibute this to the high rate of aids that students had that year, (the virus I am speaking about). I dont know if they have metal detectors, but hear about gangs, so now colors are outlawed, heard kids getting heads smashed into the wall etc. This is where my tax dollars are going, sigh, sigh. Well one good thing, my ds former babysitter was the salutatorian one year in like a class of at least 300 and she got a full scholarship to college, I think she was the exception. I live according to Forbes Magazine in a great place, huh?

 

[BWVDenise]

I read your post with a dropped jaw!!! That is really sad.

 

[Cindy B]

See, this is funny that you mention this. (this may enrage some, so if you are easily offended, back button now! FOREWARNED!)

I live in a town that has two high schools (one on one part, one on another).

The newer high school is touted to be the "better" school. The newer school has the newer building, higher tax base, (due to larger homes /affluent families, etc...). The newer school is supposedly the "better" one. Attendence is high, programs are good, etc...

The older high school is ostracized by the ones in the newer school because "black kids go there". Now, ironically, I drive by the newer school as it gets out, and I have driven by the older school as it gets out.... and the "black kids" are at the newer than the older school. There is a higher percentage of "minority" students in the newer school than the "older" school.

The prestigious IB program is at the older school than the newer school.

I can't figure it out. Personally I would rather have kids exposed to a diverse environment.

 

[onecoolmama]

It has a horrible rep! So do the middle and grade schools. Right now, I am able to get a transfer to another school in the area becuase the scores are so low, as long as I am willing to drive them.

I pay high property taxes and it is absurd that the schools are that bad! So, we are moving. I wont put my kids in any of these schools. So we are in the process of building so that we will move 1 year before DS starts kindergarten.

The bad news is DH will have an 1 1/2 train ride each way to work. teh good news is, VA has really good colleges and have a good rep for schooling.

 

[crazelion]

My high school was known as Thug High School ie: drugs , gangs,. and every thing else to get in trouble.

Our high school class is know as the Thugs that gradute with a high diploma and put a bullet through head just for the h*ll it. We bad kids.
We had police at the school every day taking people to jail for drugs and gang people.

Now the school have a resource officier there every day to handle all the drugs and gangs. It's not as bad as use to be when I was in school.

It mircle I made it out school alived.

 

[KarenC]

Originally posted by mrsv98
Well, I have the "honor" of having graduated from Glenbrook North HS....also known as the "Powder Puff Football" riot school.

Which despite those antics, continues to be an excellent place to send your children (mine go to Glenbrook South).

There is a shift in the social values of our youth...and as those values shift things start to get rocky. Kids who are doing what has been done before (like powder puff) all of the sudden are finding their actions no longer being approved of by the majority of their peers.

Kids at North aren't any more out of control than they were a few years ago...what's changing is that kids are speaking up when they are treated inappropriately. The Glenbrook South lacrosse team just went through a paddling controversy because 4 kids let the administration know that they had been hazed.

I'm a boomer and in general the kids of my kids' generation are more conservative about drinking, drugs and sex than my generation was at that age. Not all kids have gotten that memo--and they get outed when they misbehave--and it seems to the world that they have ALL run amok.

So my guess is that most kids at Heroin High aren't druggies--but some are and their use has come to the attention of a wider audience. I would encourage you to check the statistics related to the success of the school: test scores, number of students who are college bound, kids involved in extracurricular activities. If these stats compare favorably to other schools in your area, my guess is you've got nothing to worry about.

 

[bjgrazi]

Our 1 private high school, Pope John is known as Dope John... very good school, but know for drugs. No matter where the HS is there are drugs, it's a fact.