Pioneer High School

Our son is at the end of his freshman year. He has Geography, Band, English, Algebra, Biology, normal menu. All the teachers are quite good, especially English and Science. Other schools have elilminated Geography and Health. He gets attention when needed, he knows where his resources are. The coaches are fantastic and the band director is very dedicated. Our son feels part of the school fabric and the multi-cultural aspect of th school is a plus, not a minus. I am a teacher at a local HS in the area with a similar population. Pioneer is a much beter school than where I work at. SJUSD does have too much administrator turnover, partly due to such high expectations. I have been an educator sine 1983 and good administrators are hard to find. Pioneeer is meeting all of our needs, but the schedule is too early for teenagers.
—Submitted by a parent

Pioneer suffers from the same issues that affect all of San Jose Unified: endless rotation of administrators and staff and a very diverse population. The revolving door results in a lack of continuity and no accountability and a very diverse population is difficult for any school to serve. The principal is new this year, and so far, I have not seen her once. The career counselor is also new and from the three or four interactions I've had with her, appears to be in way over her head. Teachers range from absolutely great to mediocre. On a positive note, my students have access to AP classes, there are lots of sports available, there's a big emphasis on service to the community and they seem happy there. All in all, PHS is okay, but I can't say that there isn't a lot of room for improvement.
—Submitted by a parent

A true disappointment! Back in the good old days, this used to be considered a bad school, then it became the one of the jewels of the district. Now with poor leadership, and a school district that feels entitled, it definitely wouldn't be my first choice again for a school.
—Submitted by a parent

Pioneer is an amazing school and the relationships with the students and teachers are very good. The school has a lot of spirit and a close knit community. Ive never felt more welcome at a school ever. I love pioneer. Go Mustangs!
—Submitted by a student

I graduated in 1994 from Pioneer and they were probably the best 4 years of my life - seriously. My friends think I'm crazy for loving high school, but my oldest sibling is 53 and my youngest sibling is 32, with me being 36, & there's 7 of us & we ALL LOVED Pioneer. Our parents were just barely middle class, but now all of my siblings and I have at least one home, or two, and several cars, and kids getting str8 A's in school or have from Ivy League colleges and it's all thanks to Pioneer. Out of 2,000 students 950 were Mexican & I loved it, there was only 1 fight in 4 years of school & everyone got along. There were more than 40 people in my graduating class that had 4.0 (or higher) GPA's & got scholarships to the best schools in the world/country. Maybe the parents complaining about it are the same ones that won't help their kids w/ their work @ night? My H.School teachers changed my life so I hope to retire at age 45 & teach high school so I can make an impact on a 1 child's life. And fyi, it's not the teachers fault there is so much homework, it's the government & the state's - Google it! Pioneer rocks & out of my 500 Facebook friends 250 of them r from PHS.

Disappointed. Many problems with bullying, drugs and alcohol among students. Some teaching staff five star while many are one-or less. Many refuse to provide help to students and want students to ask peers for help. Teachers don't provide strategies that work for all students. Administration does not respond to problems in a timely manner if at all. Many problem students who disrupt classes or don't want to do anything. Administration thinks they know your child better than you do. Administration does not like to be challenged by parents who stay on top of things.
—Submitted by a parent

Pioneer is an okay school. Most of the teachers are pretty good but there are certain teachers who are very rude and disrespectful. The people who attend this shcool are very cliquey and conceded. I have my little group of friends and certain people in my classes whom I talk to but other than that, a lot of students are only focused on one thing: popularity. Pioneer has a lot of clubs and stuff which is good but at the same time, the shcool pushes a little too much and expect too much from students. They have only one language as well.
—Submitted by a student

WORST SCHOOL EVER. My daughter hates this school! The kids are stuck up and rude, and the staff is even ruder! They yell and accuse kids of things when it's not even there fault, and the school nurse was yelling and screaming at my daughter. My daughter has so much homework when she comes home and some of the teachers give her tests on things they didn't cover. They do nothing to help my daughter catch up if she's absent or doesn't understand the material. The principal takes WEEKS to respond to an e-mail wanting a conference, and even then it took a threat to call the district board until she finally responded.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter graduated from this high school in 2008. I enjoyed the interaction between parents and teachers at this school. My daughter received excellent academics and provided a solid base for entering college.
—Submitted by a parent

Really a high academic school. I have 2 sons that go their and they are thriving. I am very pleased witih the level of academics organization, and sports their. It is not your average school.
—Submitted by a parent

Pioneer is one of the best schools in our district. All three of our schools in our neighborhood are all distinguished schools. Elementary, middle as well as high school. We have a waiting list of freshman waiting to attend.

I went to pioneer for 3 of the four years I didn't go there for my sophmore year. Out of all of my years there I have had many different experiences. I can honestly say that there are a good amount of teachers who are qualified to be teachers. Some do not know how to control their students. There are also teachers who don't teach at all. They give the students the facts and leave it at that. No explaining no helping the students try and figure it out nothing, but these are just a few of the staff there are a lot of amazing teachers. The students itself are very cliquish forming their own groups and everything. the sports at the school are average.
—Submitted by a student

this schools fun with all the sports and im a freshmen and so far i want to finish off my high school years here. its a pretty good overall school
—Submitted by a student

I am a sophmore this year at Pioneer High. Even though only 3 weeks have gone by, I can already see changes within myself that have been influenced by my wonderful teachers. And the administration staff is always helpful in every way possible. The extra-curricular activities for all of the students make Pioneer a much more enjoyable school, because you can definately find at least one club and/or sport that you enjoy there. So, to sum it all up: Pioneer is a great school and is getting better, year after year.
—Submitted by a student

My daughter is a freshman at pioneer this year and so far everything is great! I have another daughter who went to Gunderson and what a nightmare those 4 years were! I knew the first month at Gunderson things were bad. I also know the first month at Pioneer that is will be a totally differnt experience.:)
—Submitted by a parent

My son is a Freshman at Pioneer High School and I am impressed with all of his teachers and amazed at all the extra cirricular activities offered at this school.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm not impressed by Pioneer. In the first 4 months my son has attended he's had revolving-door teachers, teachers who can't control their classes, kids throwing spitballs and trash at him, and his cell phone stolen. I've experienced teachers who don't know school policies, who don't respond to emails, and who don't show up to back to school night because they're too busy coaching sports. I've been sorely disappointed in the administration who took over a month to make a simple schedule change and only agreed to do so after I called in the school district for their help. This is the worst school experience I've ever had after only 4 short months at Pioneer.
—Submitted by a parent

I went to pioneer high school and the extra curricular activiyies were excellent. The teaching was also excellent but the principals and administrations werent up to parr.
—Submitted by a student

My daughter,a graduate of Pioneer High School, had an excellent four years as a student at the school. There is a wide diversity in the student body, and students are, overall, very inclusive and supportive of each other. The staff is both competent and caring, while holding students to high standards academically. Students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities, and many participate in multiple ones. The music and drama department is especially strong, with outstanding teachers in those disciplines. I am still involved in a volunteer capacity with Pioneer, and continue to enjoy the camaraderie of past and present parents.
—Submitted by a parent

Quality teachers are the rule, with some exceptions. A few that won't return messages. Some appear to lack relevance to todays child in general, possibly making the class boring or a turn-off. State school ratings take precedent over kids' grades.
—Submitted by a parent