Glastonbury High School

I am a 2009 graduate of Glastonbury High School and my sister is currently a senior attending Glastonbury High School. After going to college, I appreciate the education I received there. Compared to many of my peers at college, I was very well educated there. As for the complaints about special education students, I must disagree. My sister has a lot of learning disabilities and has received a huge amount of support from teachers and her guidance counselors. GHS is a school where students are pushed to achieve their best potential. Many go on to Ivy Leauge schools. There is a 98% graduation rate, which is pretty amazing. And 97% continue on to college, which is also amazing. I grew up in Glastonbury and it was one of the best places to have lived and spent my childhood. I would recommend this school to anyone living in Connecticut or New England for that matter. I do not plan on staying in Glastonbury forever but it was still one of the best educations I could have ever received.

I firmly believe that GHS offers a better education than some private schools in the area. Although I was only in the top 25 percent of my class, in college, I am one of the top students in my grade of 4,000 students. I feel more prepared and I am more successful than my private school-educated peers.
--Submitted by a student

My high school junior has a chromosome deletion and syndrome. She is also very smart. She cannot write, due to her deletion. Some professionals at GHS have tried to understand and teach her in average classes. She usually gets A's in those. Other professionals could care less,they organized their way of teaching, with preprinted answer sheets to be done in class with a group, that is socially and emotionally detrimental to a teen like mine.
--Submitted by a parent

Too big, fine if you like being just another number, there is plenty of time in life to be just a number, we moved to Bolton and it was honestly the best decision we ever made, after 15 years in Glasontury its nice to live in the real word again!!
--Submitted by a parent

First of all, I'd like to say that I am a graduate from the class of 2006 at GHS, and am very proud of it. The teachers were excellent, and opportunities were given to students of all academic abilities; whether or not students took advantage of these opportunities was completely their choice.
--Submitted by a student

This is a great school where students could achieve and be successful when they are adults. However the students are not disciplined enough. They goof off and fool around and it is hurtful to others.
--Submitted by a student

I was not at all satisfied with having my child go to this school. There are few extracurriculars, many classes and teachers fall on low standards, the students are undisciplined and act in an innappropriate manner. Students are not encouraged by the staff to do their best, there are so many students that one just glides along. Most parents do not seem to care about what their kids are doing and take no involvement.
--Submitted by a parent

Most definitely a college prep environment. If you have a child that is not academically oriented, problems arise. Overall, it is an exceptional learning institution if your child can stay away from all the bad influences that they are bombarded with daily. The educators are strict with the students and sometimes unyielding in their discipline, especially with children that are independent thinkers. My daughter needed a more relaxed and nurturing environment so I pulled her out of the school.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had experience both at GHS and a private high school. You can't beat the prep school for class size and teacher interaction with students. When there are 12 kids in a class there is nowhere to hide.My child needed this attention as he would have fallen between the cracks at GHS. He was an average student, quiet and a bit shy. He blossomed in the private school setting. My younger child chose GHS and loved it. He took mostly AP classes where class size is a bit smaller. His guidance counselor was wonderful and really made sure the college application process progressed. He did not take full advantage of the extracurricular activities. He played 1 varsity sport. I wish he had gone to private school; but GHS was a decent alternative.
--Submitted by a parent

GHS is high achieving because it is fed by higher SES families programmed to achieve. It does offer an exceptional choice of academic and extracurricular programs but is too big and impersonal to deal with any student who does not 'fit the mold'. I totally agree with respect to special ed or learning disabled kids. With respect to the latter, they do not know how to accomodate the smart kid who needs specfic accomodations. Guidance failed to forward my son's transcript in a timely fashion and almost made him miss the college application deadline. They then tried to turn around and blame it on him even though he had provided the proper paperwork and notice. Also, the school discourages parent's attempts to stay involved in their child's academic program and have inflexible grading rules on late assignments.
--Submitted by a parent