Poland Regional High School

Because of my oldest's experience at PRHS, I am now a homeschooling parent!! I hate this school system!! They let my child go from 4th grade to 10th grade before finally getting some testing done that officially diagnosed her with a learning disability. I kept trying to get something done but nobody listened! She finally dropped out at 17 and got her diploma through Adult Education. I WILL be homeschooling my other 2 little ones!!
--Submitted by a parent

I am a student here at Poland, and I'm not very impressed with the way the system is, please save yourselves the trouble. Do not send your kids here.
--Submitted by a student

A step above most high schools in the area. My daughter was well- prepared for college & currently doing well at a major university. Teachers she encountered at PRHS were competent and caring. AP & roundable classes were beneficial.
--Submitted by a parent

Poland Regional High School does not have very many good teachers and the administration does not get anything done. Teachers fly by the seat of their pants and are never prepared for the class they are teaching. They "wing it" most days with no organized classwork or homework. When I asked my son's teacher how I would know what they were doing in class and about assignments, she said that it would all be on their new online system by class. Well, she was right - there was information there- just information from September and this was the 2nd semester. I couldn't find any of my son's classes with current information.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had two children graduate from PRHS, the first in 2008 and the next in 2010. I am preparing to send my last child to PRHS and am not looking forward to the next four years. The grading system is flawed and has been since day one; when a parent complains about it they are informed that it takes a while to understand it. PRHS does not prepare students well for life after high school. This being said by my junior in college who felt he wasn't ready for college life and his teachers should have prepared him better. As for their Sports Done Right program I find this laughable; bench kids to win at all costs and yes it has happened I have witnessed it first hand on the baseball field and it wasn't my athlete that was sitting on the bench.
--Submitted by a parent

People complain about the PRHS Athletics, but it is not the students fault. The PRHS athletic director Don King is whats wrong with the program. If you take a look in Kings past, he single handedly ruined the entire sports program at Lewiston High School. This is what he is doing at Poland too. He gets rid of coaches that want to win and replaces them with coaches that are passive so he can manipulate them to make things go his way. He also plays favorites with his coaching selections. For example he replaced the baseball coach with himself. He replaced the Jv basketball coach with his best friend and he tries to be best friends with coaches so his son can play a lot. I know of many people with better talent and attitudes that were benched so Don Kings son could play. This needs to STOP!!
--Submitted by a teacher

The grading system does not make any sense what so ever. You grade the kids based on a 1-4 scale that includes a HOW grade for their habits of work in each subject. My child's academically not doing well but gets honors due to her HOW grades always being high. How can a child get 22 wrong out of 99 and be scored the highest possible at a 4? She only knew 78% of the information, that to me does not demonstrate a DISTINGUISHED knowledge of the subject. I understand a HOW grade but maybe put it separately on the report card and make it one HOW grade for all the classes combined. Each class grade should be just based on the work they turn in and scores so we get a true feel for what they know in each subject.
--Submitted by a parent

I think this school is one of thw worst in the state. As a student before I came to this school, I was doing very well academically. When I came here in 7th grade, the grading system was messed up and confusing. My grades have dropped a lot and now being a freshman, they have not changed and might have possibly gone up a little. Don't get me wrong, there are some great teachers, but some of them just have to go. Another thing thats messed up with this school is the sport..don't even get me started on the sports. I don't think girls basketball has ever one more than 2 games a season. However, they have about 3 different coaches in the past 5 years. I think their coach now will take them places..
--Submitted by a student

I graduated from this school in 2008, and could not be more disappointed with the four years that I spent in this institution. A majority of the teachers are wonderful, and will go out of their way to help students succeed. When it comes to the college admissions process however, this school is less than helpful to graduating seniors. The fact that there is 'no such thing' as class rank eliminates the possibility for many scholarships and does not inform the student of the caliber of schools they should be applying to. As I mentioned before, the faculty is simply wonderful. The failing point of this school is the administration (or lack thereof). In the past five years there have been three principals, and soon to be another. In addition to the problems with infrastructure and leadership, the student body is growing and the facilities and budget simply cannot handle it!
--Submitted by a student

I could not agree with this student more. As a parent my child has experienced the exact same situation and has requested 'required' courses for the last 3 years only to be told that every thing she needs is full and there's nothing they can do to change the way the scheduling system works(remind you of graduation day scheduling conflicts) In the process of putting every student off till the next year they have created a gigantic bottle neck situation for seniors, esp since not every course is taught every year. Call the school board!!!!Go to board meetings. More parents need to help their children fight this kids must self advocate mentality!
--Submitted by a parent