Eleanor Roosevelt High School

This school is the best experience of my life but science and tech is the program I would suggest you apply for.
--Submitted by a student

Like one of the previous reviewers, I am a neighborhood student and will complete my high school experience in 2012 at Eleanor Roosevelt HS. Despite our similarities, I must disagree with the students view on the teachers. Your experience at ERHS is what you make it. "Better" teachers are not reserved for sci/tech students (majority of those teachers teach comprehensive classes as well)-- it's the student's own drive that pushes them to succeed in the class. I personality appreciate the teachers at the school as well the extra curricular activities and opportunities available to all students at this school.
--Submitted by a student

Eleanor roosevelt is what you make of it. If you care about school and work hard, you will suceed. I am in the Quest program. Beware of the guidence conselour. if you aren't in science and tech they may ignore you. I am stuck taking normal english 10 for this coming year. However, I pushed my counselours into allowing me to take AP Government and I will be taking Chemistry honors. YOU have to push. If you don't you won't get the classes that will challenge you.
--Submitted by a student

ERHS used to be a powerhouse and a great school and turned out one of Google's founders, but those days are over, and its decline has really accelerated in the last four years. It's the best school in PG, but that doesn't mean much. While some teachers are INCREDIBLE, others are dull, foolish, or practically insane. Many are incompetent. The school spends ENTIRELY too much time and money trying to make itself look good and far too little actually improving itself. Teacher cuts are making it look like classes will soon have 40 students, I have heard multiple English teachers say that they are not going to be able to teach essay writing next year, and the administration frequently makes arbitrary and wasteful decisions that endear them to none. (They also seem to strongly dislike the students, which makes me wonder why they work here at all.) Students are totally ignored- if you want to get something done, get your parents involved. It's very possible to get a good education in the sciences, but students who are more humanities- or arts-oriented are at a fairly severe disadvantage. Non-S/T kids have it worse than we do, too. I have two days of school left and I can't wait to leave.
--Submitted by a student

I am a junior (graduate 2012) at ERHS and have been here since the beginning, freshman year. People say the school is great and wonderful, but that is only for the science/tech students. The school gives much support including good teachers and better environment for them. But for the regular neighborhood students like me, we are provided with mediocre teachers that don't really care and complain. The administration is terrible. The administrators pester students constantly because they themselves have no better work to do but to exasperate the students. They have an administrator at lunches to ruin the thought of having a break during school and eating lunch. They scream into a microphone, give students trash duty for pointless reasons, and are very discouraging. The school as a whole don't even care about the regular students, and would rather be lazy and see them fail instead of helping them succeed. My recommendation, if you have money, put your kid in a private school.
--Submitted by a student

I graduated in 2009 from the S/T program. It is easy to claim ERHS is the best, but there's not much competition in PG. There are superb and inspirational teachers here, but there are also awful ones, as is true of all schools. The key difference is that ERHS has so many great ones in a wide variety of subjects. Many of the students here do strive to achieve all that they can, but the majority appear not to care about their education (or anyone else's). The administration is severely lacking in many aspects and I am unsure if this is due to their personal attributes or the education board. As has been stated in other reviews, the high standardized testing scores and AP enrollment is due largely to the so-called "smarter kids". Personally, I didn't feel particularly challenged in the majority of my classes, but that is, at least in part, due to the fact that the English program at all public schools (that I'm aware of) is severely lacking in diversity and that funding for the arts has been largely ignored. Science and math courses make this school, but hope your student gets the good teachers or s/he will be lost.
--Submitted by a student

I graduated from ERHS in the class of 2008 and am currently in college right now. Roosevelt did a great job preparing me and exposing me to a wide variety of experiences. I loved many of my teachers and the bad ones were tolerable. I was in the Science and Technology program and the internship/research experience was am amazing experience. Definitely go with a program or large organization/university - you will learn a lot and it looks amazing on your resume! The S/T coordinator was difficult to work with as a student unfortunately and involving my parent did not help at all. I loved Roosevelt though and would highly recommend this school
--Submitted by a student

We came from a private school environment into the sci/tech program. The initial adjustment was extremely difficult, with the scheduling problems, a guidance counselor that didn't want to deal with the parents, and gave us false hope for a schedule change, policies on attendance that do not respect parental authority and rights, very delayed locker assignments, and general chaos initially. After all of this, things settled down and overall the year was good. Most of the problems were the result of PG county school max system, not the school, with the exception of the guidance counselor.
--Submitted by a parent

This is my child's second year at Eleanor Roosevelt and I'm very pleased with the teachers, curriculum and the awesome kids that go to the school. I would however, like to point out to those registering their child for the first time: beware of the admission's office. The registrar in particular can be rude. I will even go as far as call her a bully. The principle is pleasant, but unfortunately, he will always have his rude staff's back. Because of this, my rating goes from above average, to just average.
--Submitted by a parent

Science and Tech program very challenging - prepares students well for college.
--Submitted by a parent