Claremont High School

Many of the teachers are great. There are, however some teachers who will intentionally discriminate against a student that expresses views they don't agree with or like. This particular teacher allowed other students in the classroom to ridicule the disfavored student, lowered his grade, conveniently "lost" assignments turned into her, and mathematically miscalculated the final grade. The principal Brett O'connor and vice principal June Hilton, covered up the misconduct and took no action to correct the wrong doing. This administration solves problems by denying that they exist.

Our daughter graduated in 2012 and we are extremely grateful for the education CHS provided. Students from 2012 were admitted in nearly every top ranked university including the Ivies and a high number to UC Berkley. CHS has had a turn around since the principal, Dr. O'Connor, and staff came on board. Staff is accessible and responsive. Our daughter was always able to resolve concerns on her own. CHS has on-line resources for every aspect of student life including attendance, homework assignments and grades. CHS now offers the IB diploma The testing in IB is heavily biased to written essay and understanding of concepts. IB requires a high homework commitment that a capable student can handle with time management skills. Our daughter often studied until midnight and on weekends, but she also participated in a myriad of extra-curricular activities. I can best summarize by describing our daughter's college transition. She placed into several advanced courses and initially protested but the other students are ridiculously smart!!! Now, she says with relief Claremont IB prepared me well, especially time management. Yale feels like a natural progression.
—Submitted by a parent

Our daughter has had an outstanding experience at CHS. The projects that she was completing her Freshman year were astounding. The teachers made all information (from Biology to Spanish to Literature) come to life by making the information they were teaching interesting and pertinent (and sometimes a lot of fun). She felt engaged by her teachers in some of the most difficult and potentially dry classes. She felt cared for and was challenged to become a better student. Regarding the bullying issue someone stated before: I have heard the opposite. My child didn't experience bullying at all, but we did hear a firsthand account of the principal handling a teasing/heckling situation quite handily and in a timely manner (hiding behind some bushes to catch the culprits red-handed to avoid having to involve the person that reported what they were up to). The administration is very involved in all that s going on at the school, and they really do a great job. They are at every banquet, game, performance...I'm not sure when they sleep! The sports programs were very positive as well. We have had an fantastic experience so far!
—Submitted by a parent

We had to remove our child from this school this year due to the inability of the administrators and staff to recognize or address bullying on campus. It was difficult to even get an appointment to see an administrator. Your child will be seen as "1 of 2,500". If you have a choice of schools, I'd take my advice and choose a different one.
—Submitted by a parent

If your child is big on any kind of instrumental music other than jazz band or guitar, this school is extremely weak. This has only been since the unfortunate hiring of a totally unsuitable music department director in 2008. He is gone, and the band and percussion ensemble are on their way back up, but the program overall has been decimated by the politics between staff and music booster parents. Here's 2 hints: Get your musical kids into Woodbridge HS (Irvine) or get them involved in CYMO/Intermezzo orchestras (Claremont) and private lessons on their instrument. As far as general education, I know of one Spanish teacher, one history/social studies teacher, and two math teachers who are great - otherwise there are a good number of duds left to tear down the kids' self-esteem.
—Submitted by a parent

Claremont High is a very great school for teenagers. The teachers are excellent, the principal and vice principal are very strong in leadership and very responsible. This school provides wtih very challenging academic programs as well as different kinds of non academic programs such sport clubs, music and theatory prorams, speech and debate and many other EC activities. Students will have plenty of choices based on different interestss. Plus, this is a very safe school with no voilence and drugs.
—Submitted by a parent

The opportunities for students to find opportunities for success
—Submitted by a parent

...rich academic environment and generally superb instructors who instilled within the student body a joyful and a tenacious love of learning....
—Submitted by a parent

This school has become more of a prison then a learning environment, i really suggest not sending your student here.
—Submitted by a student

As a parent I am not happy with the school but one of the teachers at the school has kept my children in attendance. Many of the teachers care, but Mr. Johnson goes out of his way to help the kids. My child is very excited to attend Mr. Johnson's saturday AP sessions. He is so kind to give up his time for our students.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is an ok school. Some of their classes give ridiculous assignments and a some of their teachers can be discriminative against some of the students in special ed. I know this from experience. But overall its a great school and you can learn things somewhat easily even if some of the teachers aren't good. If your kid needs help all they have to do is ask and they will find a way to help you.
—Submitted by a student

My son began attending this school two years ago and I find the previous reviews wholly accurate. Although the school offers a great curriculum, the range of teaching skills varies immensely. The most notable flaw in this school lies in the attitude of the parents - very cliquey and unwelcoming to newcomers. Unfortunately this rubs off onto a lot of their children and effects academic extra curricular activates and the ability of new parents and students to fully participate. Over all the range of classes offered outweighs the negatives.
—Submitted by a parent

We are new to the school, our son having come from one of the 'elite' private schools of the region, so this review is preliminary. Based on early impressions, the principal is first rate. He is new here, full of fresh ideas and very student centered. The counselor with whom we have dealt is also new, open minded, and student centered. No complaints yet from our son about the teachers. A very good sign is that our son has quickly become fully engaged in the academics. No social issues of which I am aware.
—Submitted by a parent

I think the school is good overall, but I also think that some of the volunteer parents could be a little nicer to the kids! Also there are a few teachers that should consider a new profession!
—Submitted by a parent

There are only a handful of great teachers at Claremont High School. Possibly one in every subject. But I do recommend this high school for people who are looking to transfer. There are staff on this campus that truly care about the education of their students.
—Submitted by a former student

This is an overly bureaucratic school that pays little attention to the students as individuals. The quality of the teachers varies enormously. Some are terrific, but too many are quite poor---and a large number are so-so.
—Submitted by a parent

Claremont High School is too large, they have a one size fits all mentality. There is too much emphasis on college track learning. The older staff is burnt out and needs to retire. There is no safety net or outreach for students who need extra help. Only one out of three of my children did well there. The academic atmosphere is very stressful, even the team sports programs are over the top pushy to succeed.
—Submitted by a parent

The debate and theater programs are excellent, with strong student and parental participation, and some of the teachers are gifted and committed, though others, usually new, need seasoning. The biggest problems are financial--competing with the salaries of wealthier communities and affordable housing for beginners. The other major problem, a national one, is the pressure to achieve high scores, a conspicuous record of extracurricular achievements, and other visible tokens college admissions officers at prestige institutions love to collect.

I felt that this school provided a safe environment, which was my greatest concern, however, academically, the kids do well because of the families they come from, not because of 'great' teaching. The school is better than others, but better is realtive to what you are comparing to, and because the bar in California is so low, better in this case does not translate into excellence. I found that the decisions made by the principal were so poor in some instances that I truly was amazed by the lack of judgement,communication, and organization in many, many cases. Whenever I offered my help, assistance, feedback, etc., to address and resolve real problems, they were always met with stone walling by the principal and other office staff. Some teachers were great, but that was truly the exception. If this principal is fired, things might get better.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm deeply grateful to Claremont High School and its personnel, starting (but by no means ending) with Principal Carrie Allen, for giving my daughter (2000-2004) a great education! She was well-prepared for college and is now attending UCLA. Many parents are affiliated with the Claremont Colleges, and they demand quality schools.
—Submitted by Donna R. Hecht, a parent