Independence High School

Independence is a great school. My son graduated in 2010 and is an UCSD sophomore. Most of his friends got in UC. Actually, no matter which school you attend, if you study hard dream will come true.
--Submitted by a parent

I graduated from IHS. Now I'm going to San Jose State University for Engineering (B.S.). This high school has a large campus and the second biggest campus of high school in USA. Teachers are really friendly and good security with police on campus.
--Submitted by a student

I am a graduating this year from Indepedence and am going to UCSD this fall. I have to disagree many of the reviews. Independence does not have lower academic standards and if the student feels that the classes are not challenging enough, there are classes called 'AP' classes. As for the rumors about the school being violent and agressive, every school has bad students; I have seen two fights this year, and both were broken up almost immediately by security. independence simply has a higher population, and with this all of our activities are done on a much larger scale than other schools. However, the budget cuts have hit the school extremely hard this year and many teachers and advisors are being cut. The next few years will be hard for many students and teachers in the East Side Union High School District.
--Submitted by a student

My 1rst child who had graduated from Piedmont HS (2006) continued to do well in UC Santa Cruz ( now senior ). My 2nd child graduated from Independence HS ( 2008) and continued to do well too at UCBerkely(now sophomore). I had been reluctant to send my 2nd child to Independence HS because of all the negative rumors but my child has turned out to be fine . He had witnessed fights twice during his 4 years at Independence HS and learnt how to avoid it. At Berkeley, He had been approached by a homeless twice and managed to get out of the situation safely. He had witnessed violence at the Bart on the way home from Berkely and still remaint fine. He's managed to adjust himself to the large and diverse campus at UCB partly because he 'd been used to the large size and diverse ethnic groups at Independence HS.
--Submitted by a parent

This school's low academic standards fool students into thinking they're doing well eventhough they're not. Drugs, gangs, violence are a regular part of this school, but the admin. likes to keep that undisclosed. If a student is failing, they send him off to one of the alternative schools, or to an adult school, so that he, or she, won't show up in their statistics as a failure. Don't trust the student evaluations--they go by how much 'fun' they can have, not by how much they actually learn. As an employer, I've found I can't rely on the grades students get at Independence; they are meaningless.
--Submitted by Maria

I belive that this school is a violent and agressive school. With all the fights and everything.Its a very i would never reccomend this school ever. Thatswhy i am transfering my daughter to piedmont high school
--Submitted by a parent

IHS is not the typical high school that you would see on TV. Everyone is able to get along without having upperclassmen pick on lowerclassmen. In fact, our Link Crew Program encourages the opposite. The upperclassmen help the freshmen transition to high school in a nice environment and friendly atmosphere. We are also very diverse and offer a large variety of clubs. It's hard not to find a club you like!
--Submitted by a student

i love independence cause we have hecka clubs and we have a club day! theres also this thing called link crew in out school and they help the fresmen out 1-2 time a month!they go out of ther classes just to help lead the freshmen around!hecka nice! plus, we put a lot of effort in our school to make sure that the student sre having fun at school about learning and having a good time!!!
--Submitted by a parent

IHS has served me well these past 2 years! The staff are great and the students are chill!
--Submitted by a student

Extensive programs, good teachers, lotsa students. This school is HUGE and that's what we love about it!
--Submitted by a student