I've been going to Decatur for my whole life. I'm currently a junior. I'm failing because of the teachers here. Most of them do not even teach. They usually just had us packets or paper work to work on the rest the class. This semester I only have two teachers who actually stand up and teach. I would not recommend this school.
—Submitted by a student

I am curently a sophmore at Decatur Central High school and I have been attending school in this twnship for around 8 years with many of the same kids my entire life. In Decatur Central there are many students who do not care about their future enough to attempt to get good grades or try at anything, this is the reason why our test scores are so low. Many of the familys in this district are low income familys. Drugs, sex, smokeing, and pregnancy are huge issues at this school that continue to worsin day by day. Despite these many problems... I have yet to see another school with students who care for each other as much as the student body at DCHS! Decatur Central has a very tight nit family atmosphere with students who always have each others backs. This school does not have a problem with forming clics or discluting people. DCHS has outstanding arts departments and outstanding athletics, despite their horrible accademics. The staff members at this school form a very personal bond with their students and strive to help them not only in accademics but also with life problems. I am proud to be a Decatur Central Hawk!!
—Submitted by a student

My wife and I were fortunate enough to meet two of the teachers, the principal and 40 Junior students at Disney World while waiting for the Parade of Lights to begin. The program that brings 40 Junior students to Disney each year is a wonder and gives students opportunities to learn and have fun at the happiest place on earth. The teachers and principal we met obviously were well liked and respected. We saw real communication and felt that these were the kind of teachers any parent would want teaching their kids. The principal had an open, honest and friendly relationship with the students and knew them all by name. The students were friendly, respectful and well behaved, not something you can usually say about 40 teen agers in one place at one time. It was the pleasantest experience we had at Disney and we wish the teachers, students and principal well. John and Jayne Kelly

I teach at DCHS's alternative school called the Decatur Enrichment Center. At least 1/4 of the graduating class graduated because of our school! These students would most likely have dropped out without our program -- some have full time jobs and are the sole support for their families, some have life threatening health conditions, many have children of their own. Most of our kids have one parent in prison or dead and their families struggle with drug addiction, suicide, murder, and everything in between. For many different reasons, traditional schooling was not successful with our kids and so this creative project-based program exists to serve them. We are so proud of our superintendent, Don Stinson, for founding the school and our program coordinator, John Pietrzak who goes above and beyond for our students who are really struggling in life. This program is truly amazing and runs on a shoe string budget with four teachers teaching every high school subject for our kids.
—Submitted by a teacher

Decatur is the worst school I know. The teachers do not curb bad behavior. The teachers do not assist those who need a little encouragement. Mostly, the children have no respect for the adults or visitors. I know this firsthand. This school is the worst school I have ever seen. Children are definetly not given equal learning opportunities. Send your children elsewhere!
—Submitted by a parent

I think decatur is fine. It's all about how you raise your kid. You have to be involved. I am a 1985 graduate and I have a son graduating in May and one son going to be a freshman.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a past student of this school and my parents kept me in the same school district all my life. I love the elementary. I did not like middle school at all. How ever I loved my high school. I was class of 2006 and I believe if it was not for that school I would not be where I am today. I am currently in college with a 3.0. Have APT of my own and work at a hotel. I was in color guard most of high school and that was the best thing I had ever begged my parents to let me do. I would have to say that doing that kept me out of a lot of trouble and helped me with teenage life. So if any of the teachers read this, Thanks for all that you did for me.
—Submitted by a student

Decatur Central would be a great school if they treated all students the same like they are supposed to!The teaching staff is great but,the office staff has not yet learned that children should all be all be giving the same chances in every circumstance no matter how much money their parents do or do not make!
—Submitted by a parent

I just graduated for decatur and I have to say that during the four years I was a student Decatur has done a lot to improve itslef. It is not was it could be but I think it is getting there,
—Submitted by a student

I had recently just graduated from Decatur Central. I personally think a good percentage of the teachers are wonderful. I have yet to run into a teacher who was just there to earn a paycheck. The level of teacher involvement is going to vary. I wasn't a very good student and i rarely did homework, but the teachers and administrators were there to make sure I was on the right path towards graduation. Teachers don't ignore the struggling student and focus on the smart ones. Teachers ignore the punks that dont want to do their work and try to disrupt their class. If the student doesnt want to learn or pick up a decent education no teacher in the world can help them. The main issue is that they need to higher more councelours. 2 for an entire school isnt enough, and our slc leaders can only do so much. =]
—Submitted by a student

Decatur is one of the worst schools you can go to. There are maybe five teachers that really cared in the whole school which makes me wonder if you dont even care about your students than what is the point in even becomeing a teacher. There are alot of them there that tend to favor students that tend to learn a lot faster than others an the teachers spent way more time with them and paid little to none to the students that really needed it. But if I learend anything from the time I spent there its that there needs to be a whole lot more teachers that give a crap.

I just moved there and Decatur is alright, but the teachers, need to teach instead of giving out work.
—Submitted by a student

I am a Decatur grad and it is the best kept secret in Indianapolis. There innovation and focus on learning in the 21st century is very innovative. I am glad I still consider myself a hawk.
—Submitted by a former student

Geez.................praise God for home schooling, DCHS has alot of bully issues, I'm sure this exsists everywhere, but typically just goes unoticed by staff or apparently just blown off. It's good to see they are finally building on. I think this school ranks lower than a 1. Check into home schooling, my children have greatly improved since I've pulled them out of the DCHS ratrace.
—Submitted by a parent

I graduated in 2003 and felt that DC prepared me adequately for college. Since I graduated, they have greatly increased the number of AP courses, which is great for the students. I felt that the general student population really got along with each another. The school was never so big that I felt alienated, but I would still see new people every once and a while. Like every school, there are some so-so teachers, but every department has a teacher that made me really passionate about the subject. I participated in band, drama, and 2 sports, and they were good programs that reinforced the underlying strengths of cooperation, even if they didn't all produce championships. The parent involvement is so-so. It seems that they really like to push around the teachers when it comes to discipline, academic evaluations and grading policies.
—Submitted by a former student

I'm a DC grad and I loved my 4 years of high school. It was great. I do agree with another viewer that DC doesn't get you ready for college. I feel like I breezed through high school, but college I felt left behind. But all in all DC is great. Oh its very political also.
—Submitted by a former student

I graduated from DC in 2003, and I have to say I loved it. Most teachers are excellent and really try to connect with the students by creating an educational yet fun enviroment. A recent review said that DC didn't prepare them for college, but I don't believe that. I'm a college student with a 3.5 GPA so I'm doing just fine. I would recommend DC to any parent looking for a good school for their children.
—Submitted by a former student

Decatur Central in my opinion is a good school for my children. The academic scores are starting to rise and the teachers are more involved than other schools my kids attended. They are improvin on many things. They built another school for the extra students. Even though the parent involvement isn't great, the school itself is wonderful. I wouldn't ask for a better school for my kids to attend. While other schools pay more attention to sports than academics, decatur focuses on the students grades and other needs.
—Submitted by Heather, a former student

The school itself is old and needs to be rebuild, the poor shape of the building adds for crapy learning envoriment. The teachers in the building do an outstanding job for what they have to work with. The extracurriculars in this school though are amazing. The Band and Drama programs are in their prime. Kids can get away with anything. Teachers and the admenistration allows kids in the school to get away with anything. In this school there are low amounts of parants help sudents.The overall school just floats on in the middle of other Indiana schools.
—Submitted by a student

I am currently a senior at DC. I think it is a wonderful school as well as a great learning environment. The teachers and administration are great. I can not think of a better school I would like to go to.
—Submitted by Leslie Clark, a student