Kalamazoo Central High School

What a AWFUL place !!! I substituted here and it was a hot mess. You couldn't pay me to send my son here. Most of the students have zero respect for teachers, principal or themselves. F this and F you and F that is all you will hear all day long. For the few student who have made it to 12 grade and are still thriving you are 100% amazing and our unbelievably resilient !! The Kalamazoo promise is a joke, due to the fact that any child who is truly trying to learn is gonna have a very hard tim staying focus. Truly very very sad !!!
--Submitted by a teacher

Kalamazoo Central high school is an amazingly diverse place where kids spend some of their most volatile and dramatic years. With so many changing teens in one place, it's amazing how smoothly the school runs. That's not to say there aren't hiccups, but since the time Principal Washington has been there, the majority of the student body went from despising the administration, to turning to them for support and assistance in day to day activities. To say that the teachers of this school don't care about the students is a direct insult at their hard work. It's been three years since I graduated from this school and I've grown to appreciate it more and more. I didn't realize how prepared I was for college until I got through my first year and realized that there were times at Kalamazoo Central where I was challenged more than in College.
--Submitted by a student

Lots of violence and a lack of teacher concern for student well-being. Drugs are sold openly in the hallways and there are knives in the building. The boys' bathrooms are like smoker's lounges and there is a lot of racism and hatred directed toward the minority whites.
--Submitted by a student

I pulled my son out of this school last year and he is now doing much better. He hated the violence and the lack of control that the staff has over the students. The Kalamazoo Promise was just not worth it for us. Calls placed to the principal were not returned, and everything is in a state of chaos in the school. My younger son is only eight, and has asked if we can move before he gets to middle school. I wanted my kids to have a lot of diversity in their school, but I cannot send them to a school that is not safe.
--Submitted by a parent

It is billed as a world class school and I can attest to it's world class curriculum aimed at preparing our young minds for the next level of education.
--Submitted by a parent

New to michigan from california and our experience with KCHS has been positive. Very caring staff and dedicated teachers. Very impressed with the variety of classes offered and the supervision of students.
--Submitted by a parent

School is about what you put into, staying the course. I am a parent of 2 students who have received the full Kalamazoo Promise and feel all whose children attend should feel very blessed and not let this opportunity ever be wasted.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter transferred from Loy Norrix and loves it. The staff has really went out of their way to make her feel welcomed.
--Submitted by a parent

My son goes to central, now in his senior yr, I'm glad is almost over, I don't really care for this school, its overwhemlingly big, too many teens in one confine space, and the violence its horrible, along with the bullying! that needs to stop., but they are few teachers that care, and thats why my son will be graduating. if I had another choice of school , I would taken it. I don't recomend this school to people., but then again, the choices for public education are limited.
--Submitted by a parent

Over all it was a great experience. I made some amazing friends and had many great expperinces through extra curriculars. High Marks for extra curriculars, poor marks on some of the text books. Lower level math thext books for classes like geometry and algrebra 1 and 2 just don't measure up to those I used at my previous school. My sister had a harder time learning from them that they should have. Teachers do encourage students to learn the information for themselves which is great. The school is very sports focusedd, especially when it comes to basketball. This isn't necessarily bad, but if your child is involved in other activities, don't expect a lot of school recognition. Other than a few curriculum issues KC is a Great School.
--Submitted by a student