Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Senior High School

This school is proof that you cannot base how well a school is by its ratings. My dad got stationed here in Miami and he decided this would be a good school because it has such a good rating.. its not. I'm a military brat whose been to 9 different schools and this is the worst. Pretty much all the administration are real jerks, all they care about is academics and there schools college prep type image. The athletics are absolute garbage, they don't even have a football field or track. The school security is full of incompetent low lifes, and the lunch ladies can't even speak English. This school would probably be great for someone from south America because his is truly their environment. I guess you get a school this terrible in that real high school experience when its run by rude staff. Thank god I only had to go here for two years, but sadly I'll graduate from here. I REPEAT DO NOT DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THIS SCHOOL IF YOU ARE NEW TO MIAMI AND LATINO CULTURE. try a school like killian. its a real shame this school has such a good rating. So deceiving.

Disturbing to read some of the below. Hope all is 'righted' but I know my 'junior' grandson is struggling. It is great to read of college acceptance and hope the school will push kids, REALLY push them, to strive for college. Without education they drift into mediocrity. A Concerned Grandmother...

My son attended Ronald Reagan and was accepted on a top IVY LEAGUE school. Ronald Reagan only made him better. Thank you to all teachers.
--Submitted by a parent

If President Reagan were alive, he will be very proud that this school, follow his legacy, teaching to the young people and the community the importance of the hard work ... , Excellent teachers, Excellent administration, and an excellent educational enviorement for the future of this country. The food of cafeteria is not bad, and the ELL programs for people who doesn't talk english is very good, I'm very proud of being part of this wonderfull school... I'm a student

I am about to start my third year at Reagan. The school is very clean. But it is very unorganized. Some teachers care about the students, the majority dont. and this is very sad. The principal has no leadership skills whatsoever, he only cares about the FCAT. Clubs are good. The activities are very little, and only a limited amount of students can attend them. The activities director (morales) is extremely rude. I came in there once and he gives parents and mostly students an attitude. The food is all junk food. I once bought a bag of chips, and it was from 2007. The cafeteria ladies had given me chips that expired 3 years ago. I could go on and on.

Military familaries should look for another school. My two daughters go to Reagan and not happy. There is a lack of teacher focus and supplies. My daughters are not hispanic and are outcasted. My girls spent their life in Department of Defense schools. This school does not compare to that level. Many of the teachers do not pay attention during their classes and on computers. I do not recommend to military families. SOCSO J2.
--Submitted by a parent

Club/activity participation is low. For the most part Cambridge kids stick to themselves as do honors and so on. Administration only cares about Cambridge. Honors and Regular classes are anything but challenging. I was usually the only one participating in my 9th grade honors classes--it s only gotten worse. The teachers cater too much to their students learning pace. Cambridge dominates and it s a great program. It doesn t teach memorization or simple test prep but prepares world conscious citizens. I ve heard great things about the AP classes, but they are more work than Cambridge, are ignored by admin, and burn you out quicker than a full load of Cambridge classes. Cambridge is only hard at the beginning to weed out the lazy kids. It is recognized globally; don t let anyone tell you differently. UF/FSU/FIU/USF/UCF are suckers for Cambridge. The Cambridge diploma also guarantees a 100% Bright Futures scholarship.
--Submitted by a student

The school has a very good program and that's a good thing, sadly, half of the teachers there don't even care about teaching, they just put too much emphasis on FCAT. The school offers a very good atmosphere for learning and that's something I really like but security guards and rude students make it rather a place where you wouldn't want to be. The administration started out in a very outstanding way when I came in 2007 but by 2009 it has gone downhill. I have barely heard of any college fairs lately and activities are very rare and always announced with no time ahead. Counselors have helped me very little with college related stuff. The food the cafeteria serves is awful as well. The only thing keeping the school from collapsing is the 1 or 2 good math teachers and some other caring and dedicated staff.
--Submitted by a student

This school ACADEMICALLY is the most amazing school in miami dade county. Compared to other public schools in miami dade, this school is on top. Of course there are your bad apples who do not teach you correctly but most of the teachers are great and they teach us things that will be useful in everyday life. A lot of the time they overteach us but its good so that when we go to college, we will be well rounded and as educated as possible. If you live in miami dade and want your child to have the best public school experience with the best security, Ronald Reagan should be your choice.
--Submitted by a student

I have lived in Doral for 3 years, and it was the most horrible experience. I stayed for my freshmen year at Ronald Reagan Senior High School. That school does not teach you well, just as my math teacher doesn't care if we (students) get it or not, they only care about getting into their goals, which is finish the book by the end of the year, which rarely does not happen. The principal, teachers, students, in overall everybody does not care about whom you are, students have really bad manners among themselves, even thou the principal pretends he can work he is just making students rebels against school, by prohibiting the usage of white sweaters, it was 32 degrees F and they did not allow students to wear their sweater because of matter of color. They try to be the best school of Florida, but they are not.
--Submitted by a student