South Hills High School

Disclaimer - my student only attended for one semester, and have heard that the AP program is good. Positives first - sports coach was great, math teacher provided outside help when asked. However, as a whole, my teen's experience in the regular program involved substandard academic work. We chose SHS because the last district we lived in required constant parental involvement (i.e. - last-minute runs for special school supplies, travel). However, my teen went from struggling to maintain a B-/C+ average in middle school (old district) to making easy A's and B's at SHS with little effort. Lots of drugs/alcohol, kids sleeping/texting in class or cutting class, ridiculous "Study Skills" period that was a free-for-all socializing period, complete lack of instruction (i.e. - my teen only wrote two short in-class English essays and one short essay at home), science take-home exams, almost no homework. Sure, it boosted the GPA, but at what cost? Check out the CST scores for this school - this gives a much more accurate picture of the academics. And yes, I am aware that the school is the best in the district, which doesn't speak well for the district as a whole.
—Submitted by a parent

At times, the school seems overly concerned about athletics, but overall, it's not so bad. The teachers seem to care about their students and are good at what they teach, and there's not too much violence going on either.
—Submitted by a parent

I attended SHHS and found that the academics were mediocre at best. Although there were a few teachers who really showed care and passion for their subject, there were many that gave alot of busy work. I remember many a teacher passing out a work sheet and then going to the back of the room to talk to other teachers and watch football plays on repeat on video. Any class where you had a teacher who was also a coach meant you had a pretty easy class. I am thankful I had no athletic skill because I saw many a friend fall victim to the insane amount of pressure placed on their shoulders. The wrestlers are obsessed with weight and the football players were known to take drugs to enhance their performance. Im glad I went here though, compared to rival schools I felt safe and thats always a winner.

This school is a lot better for children, especially academically, than any nearby school. I'm so glad I sent my child here.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is good if your child is an athlete because that is all the school really cares about. If you want a good school for academia then I advise you to go somewhere else.
—Submitted by a student

South Hills overall was a relatively good experience. There are many extracurriculars to get involed in, many AP classes to to take, and nice people. The administation is mediocre. The counselors could do a lot more to advise the students better, but I got to where i needed to be so I guess it wasn't all that bad.
—Submitted by a student

The only thing South HIlls has in it's favor is the athletics. The administration favors athletics so much over academics that if your student is a gifted athlete the administration will overlook any infraction they may have regardless what school policy is broken or how illegal it may be. There is no community among the student body unless it is with the cliques in sports or ASB and student behavior can be horrible. The one thing the students mostly share is apathy towards their grades. These are a few reasons I decided to leave and teach else where. It once was a great school but has recently declined greatly in academics and student involvement in their school community and with the current leadership it is not surprising.

this school continously proves itself to be academically proficient, i am a senior at this school and i would consider myself 100% satisfied with the methods used by the entire staff to further my education and prepare me for the future. It recently recieved a 4 year WASC accreditation which is outstanding among other schools in the area.
—Submitted by a student

focus more on sports rather than academics and students' behavior. So if your kids are not athletes,this is not the high school for you.
—Submitted by a parent

this school is amazing and extremely concerned with students excelling academically.

this school is one of the best i've been at

This school is great for a good quality education. There is a diverse society and everybody knows everybody. This is one of the best public school in the LA county the kids that are seniors are going to good UC school and Cal-State schools South Hills High School is a great school to send your child to
—Submitted by Vivian Chang, a parent

My son has attended this School for the last 2 years. I do not recommend this school it does not live up to the hype. This has to be a sample of an underlying problem with this school's administration and lack of interest with the kid s academics. My kid is not the athletic kind so he has been for the most part marginalized.
—Submitted by a parent

South Hills is a very diverse school. the dances are fun and athletics are the best. But when it comes to school its good to stay in a C- to a A+ range. SHHS is #1!!!! -OREO
—Submitted by OREO, a student

South Hills high is known as an affluent school located across from a country club. The forte of this school is really the extracurricular activities, offering a wide varriety of sports, particularly the award winning football, while also having a good, but widely under appriciated music and arts program. Though there is a good variety of honors and AP courses that are not offered at rival schools, teachers tend to varry in the their teaching quality from great teachers to below average. The school itself is undergoing renovations and modernizations. Currently only a small fraction of the classrooms have been remodeled and on top of that, has taken many years to complete. There is also much diversity at this school which very closely reflects state averages of ethnic groups. Overall this is a good school but unfortunatly focuses too much on sports.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a current student here (a junior), so here's a true firsthand view. The academic programs here are great. We have many courses, especially some APs, that are unavailable at the other schools in the district. Many students take at least one honors or AP course, and the school has a very open, inclusive policy on who can take them. While there are bad seeds, dropouts are unheard of. There are many extracurricular activities here, including a wide variety of clubs, leadership, and sports. We have almost all the typical teams for boys and girls, except for water polo. Our football and baseball teams are especially well known. As for parental involvement, I wouldn't really know, but it is probably around average. On another note: Your kid will feel safe here. This school is very diverse, but tends to be cliquey and times, althought there is no real 'popular group.' Hope this helps.
—Submitted by a student

Good academic programs and social programs for the kids to be involved in. School is quick to inform parents when children are not attending class, this shows their concern for the child's school work.
—Submitted by a parent

There are not a lot of academic programs available. From first hand experience,i can say that the music program at this school is pretty good to an extent. The art at this school is limited and this is a good school if your kid is into football. This school revolves around football and the other sports are well. Recently there has been an outburst of many new clubs.
—Submitted by a student

I feel this school is more centered on the success of the athletics programs than academics. I have been continually frustrated by the lack of courtesy and downright rudeness and disrespect of some of the staff in the offices. Thankfully, the majority of the teachers seem to be caring and proficient at their jobs. There are some exceptions. Everyone seems to know who they are, yet nothing is done about their poor performance. I do not feel that this school lives up to the quality of other schools my child attended in the district.
—Submitted by a parent

There are a few teachers that are easy to comprehend and make teaching students their first priority. However, there are a couple of teachers who make it difficlut to learn due to the lack of assuring their students understand. Although the extracurricular activities are excellent, I do not reccomend this school.
—Submitted by a former student