Sandalwood High School

I am a Senior at Sandalwood High and my experience here with the students and teachers are great but with the guidance counselors, bad. The guidance counselors here are not helpful and are sometimes rude. I feel intimidated by them and look at me as if I am an idiot and is wasting their time. The teachers on the other hand are fun, helpful and love to teach. Only a few are unhelpful to students and will be fired. The clubs are fun, and although I only started to join clubs during my Senior year, i find all enjoyable except the NHS society. That club is extremely easy to get into so much that all you need to do is LIE. So far this year we have about 90 members. The notifications for the meetings are somewhat last minute, and I have not been to a meeting yet so far this year. The Senior events are fun, and despite all the hard classes we need to take to make our college applications appealing, I believe I am having a lot of fun. I am stressed out a lot from thoughts of college, my job, the money and schoolwork, but some of my teachers are very understanding and helpful. The school is disorganized, but I feel that it's still a great school to go to.
--Submitted by a student

I love this school, my coworkers, and students. The culture is fabulous. As with any large school, students who go looking for trouble will find it...but for the most part there is so much going on that students can find their place easily.
--Submitted by a teacher

My son was forced to Sandalwood from Fletcher in 2008 due to a zoning change. I was very hesitant due to horror stories and their poor schools scores. All in all, the change has been a positive one. My son feels safer here and also feels there is a lot less prejudice, and much more diversity. He tells me there are much fewer cliques and everyone, for the most part, gets along. Another positive is the GIS program....what a wonderful program to be involved in. It is like four years of college courses for free. Sandalwood's classroom techology is also must more advanced that Fletcher's. Just wish everything was not based so much on FCAT scores...although this holds true for all schools these days!
--Submitted by a parent

Wow, this school has made an incredible tranformation in the past several years!! I was truly hesitant about my daughter attending Sandalwood, however, it has been a blessing. The administration & faculty have really gone the extra mile to make changes, and they have succeeded. This school earned an "A" for 2009-10, up from a "C". I think that says a lot. They also have the Early College High School program, which is awesome. For students who are motivated and want to get ahead or just need that extra challenge, it is a great program, and what parent would complain about their child earning their AA degree free of charge!! Sandalwood has had a bad reputation for a long time, but that is all talk..this is a great school.
--Submitted by a parent

I am a senior at Sandalwood. Graduating class of 2011. Of course I am an average student that will complain about my teachers & the students there, but in reality the school is a very good school. Unfortunatly I waited until my senior year to take advantage of the vigorous academic AP and honors courses & I also waited until my last year to participate in the ample amount of sports & activities offered by the school. I tell everyone this, if you plan on going to Sandalwood school is what you make of it. Take advantage of AVID, a college preparatory program, join the extracuriculars that are offered, & do not take your education for granted, do not get involved with the wrong crowd. People may choose to look down on Sandalwood, when realistically your child just needs to be smart enough not to do ingorant things & to get involved with the group of ignorance there, that is also found in every school. You can not keep your child in a protective bubble & be affraid to expose your child to "possible" threats. You should have raised your child better than that anyways. Oh yeah, & Sandalwood is now an A school. :) So it has drastically changed from what it used to be.
--Submitted by a student

I'm a junior about to be a senior and i've been at Sandalwood since freshman year and i LOVE it! The school has a wonderful staff of administration and teachers, most will stick with any and all students to keep them on track with grades, attendance and discipline.
--Submitted by a student

i am a freshman at sandalwood highschool and i think the school isnt that bad. however they need to work on discipline a little better. i mean the kids are always skipping. i mean i used to but i stopped. when i was caught i only got one day of issp. that isnt right. its like telling a kid that they still may only get one day of issp if they do it again.
--Submitted by a student

I have been very happy with my child's teachers, he loves them to death, they are very supportive and helpful. However, the administration at this particular school seems to be clueless. Its like the left foot doesn't talk to the right. It is extremely hard to get a straight answer out of anyone unless you go through 4 or 5 people first. Getting a response from the principal is almost impossible and the people that I have dealt with are often very rude. Also, having students answer the phones in the front office is just dumb since they never know the answers to any of your questions.
--Submitted by a parent

Administration perpetuates most of their own problems through uninformed decisions and a sheer lack of common sense throughout the dicipline process

My child is involved in the AVID community and is very happy at Sandalwood. It is a large school, but the small learning communities help keep the kids in classes with students they know. The teachers are active and involved and keep good communication through letters and their personal websites. If your child chooses to get involved in one of the many programs available, they will likely have a better experience than if they did not. Budget cuts are hurting these teachers, so parent involvement is really important. Get involved in your child's education and you'll find that this school will meet any of your public school needs!
--Submitted by a parent