Hastings High School

Hastings has waived around its success in the 1980s for about 20 years too long now. The teachers - whether it's because of struggling to meet the state's new requirements, or sheer apathy towards their job - are simlpy uninvolved. Also, discrimination (by socioeconamic level, race, and "name") is a huge and overlooked problem in this district. It almost appears as though adminsitrators are afraid of the students, as discipline is rarely and reluctantly enforced. On the whole, the students trudge their way through buffered classes, learning little of work ethic and even less of respect.
--Submitted by a student

I have four children that have graduated from Hastings schools and two still in them. My children that graduated from hastings have attended MSU or Olivet after high school. My daughter that is in Hastings High is ttending not only high school but college as well with dreams to work in Environmental GoeScience. Hastings promotes science and math with excellent programs in both.
--Submitted by a parent

I have three children enrolled in Hastings School system. One in High School, the other two in Middle School. I did not attend the school personally, but my husband is a Hastings graduate. We live outside the city in the country and are very pleased with the school system. I do not agree with the former statements that your name has anything to do with the way your child is treated. My daughter has a different last name than my two step sons and I have not seen an instance of being treated differently. To those parents who are quick to criticize the discipline in the schoolrooms or lack thereof, I feel this is due to our own society taking away any authority teachers may have in their classroom and kids knowing they can get away with being disrespectful.
--Submitted by a parent

I am going into 10th grade at HHS and i am absolutely appauled by this school. The teachers just give you the answers and they don't explain how they got it, even if you ask them. HHS is also just a popularity contest, even with the teachers. if you have the right last name, the teachers love you, but if you have the wrong one, they make it obvious that they dont like you at all. i am considering transfering to thornapple kellogg for my remaining 3 years of highschool. i'm getting really tired of how the Hastings Area School District doesnt care weather the students excell or not.
--Submitted by a student

I am a graduate of HHS and I think that it was a great school. It does not matter what your last name is or how much money you have. When I started attending there my 10th grade year everyone was extremely nice and the teachers were great. Everyone gets excepted in that school and it offers great learning experiences.
--Submitted by Tiffany Fox, a former student

I have lived in hastings all my life and I have 4 kids going to hastings, and by no means are we made of money. I have a 10 grader and hes doing fine and I keep right up with whats going on with school and what ever I need to get involed in.
--Submitted by a parent

I know that your name means just about everything in this district and it's really sad. I think everyone should be looked apon for their personal qualities and not just because you have money. It's not preparing our young adults for the real world, where people won't know if they have money or what their name is. I also think that the teachers should teach better, I think they have become lazy and allow the students to teach themselves with the materials given to them. Don't get me wrong, not all the teachers are like this. But when students ask for help don't give them an answer like 'I've already explained this to you, weren't you listening?' Just teach, that's what you are there for. I still send my children to Hastings but I do worry. I don't think that HHS has changed much since I graduated from there in 1989.
--Submitted by a parent

We are in complete agreement with the substandard quality of this school district. I (parent) graduated from Hastings and it has not changed in 35 years. We did have 2 children enrolled in the Hastings Area School District, but have since pulled them out and taken advantage of 'schools of choice'. In the Hastings School District, it DOES matter what your name is, what color your skin is, and how much money you have. WE have attempetd to get involved in school activities for the last 20 years and like the previous comments, parents are pushed aside, suggestions ignored, and there ARE different punishments for the same infractions. I have lived in the Hastings School District all of my life and worked for the court system. Don't sent your kids to the Hastings School District.
--Submitted by a parent

I enrolled my children in Hastings School District in fall of 2004 and I have to say that the other commemnts listed are what are small minded. My children attend school in classrooms with less than 20 children. While they maybe behind some of the other districts, the education is solid enough. I have children in four grades and firmly feel that I would have seen something wrong by now. It's a lot better then Thornapple Kellogg District.
--Submitted by Tracey Booth, a parent

I attended HHS for all four years and completely agree with the other reviews. In Hastings, especially at the high school, your last name is all that matters. If you have the right name, there is no limit to what you can get away with. The purpose of high school is to prepare you for college and the real world, H.H.S. did none of this. All it taught me was that who you know is more important than what you know. The entire city is filled with small-minded.
--Submitted by Amanda Williams, a former student