Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Lists of Best High Schools

I personally hate these rankings. My DH teaches at one of these "best of the best" schools and in my opinion the school is highly dysfunctional.

There is a pervasive attitude that the kids have to be perfect. They have to take a full schedule of all AP courses, which leaves them little to no room to explore other interests, electives, arts or anything else that might develop their human side, as opposed to just their intellect. Anything less than perfect grades = failure. The kids are pushed into extra tutoring, test prep courses and even athletic trainers so that they can be the best. (Yes, at sports, too!)

Although some students thrive in this atmosphere, many others do not. Over the years, DH has had several of his students hospitalized for what would have been called in the old days a "nervous breakdown." Some of their parents even came to the teachers and asked for assignments to be brought to the hospital so their kids wouldn't fall behind. Can you imagine? The pressure to be perfect also leads to cheating and a whole lot of begging for points once grades come out. Parents will come in and insist that their kids deserve a higher grade than they earned.

Of course, that part doesn't make the newspapers . . .

Are there a lot of incredible opportunities at the school? Absolutely! Would I send my own kids there? I'm not so sure. That's something we discuss at home often. Are the opportunities worth the potential cost?

IMHO, there has to be a better way of judging a school's worth than the formulas in the newspaper.