City Honors School at Fosdick Masten Park

City honors has thus far surpassed my expectations . I feel if my child takes advantage of what is being offered. She can achieve what ever she sets out to achieve. The decision is truely up to her. The bottom line for me is that she is being exposed and academically challeneged. The bulk of our public and even charter schools are lagging behind , I hate to say this, it pains me to say this , but there are high schools in our city that are nothing more then teenage waste lands. I base this on graduation rates and college acceptance percentages. As for my child this free ,public education , if nothing else has my child on the right track.
--Submitted by a parent

Honestly, the four years I have spent at City Honors for high school were the most miserable years of my life. It's been a couple of years since I graduated, and I still feel the sting of the bullying and harassment I suffered at the hands of peers, both those my age and even younger, and occasionally even teachers. I feel like I had so much more potential and could have succeeded to a larger extent in a less hostile environment. Instead, City Honors crushed my sense of self-worth and esteem. It got so bad that somedays I would just dread walking into school and felt lousy at the end of the day after an entire day's worth of ostracism and rude behavior from students. Academically, the school's pass rates on AP exams and some regents are laughably low for an "honors" school. The IB program is a scam, and does very little to prepare a student for college and earns the student almost zero credits anywhere. I do applaud the school for its socioeconomic diversity, but the student body is very racially segregated. Some teachers are pretty good (Jurich, Crane, Stephens, Roche, Franke, etc) but many are indeed washed out. Overall, my experience at this school was less than satisfactory.

I'm a freshman at Honors; it's my first year attending the school and I can honestly say it does not live up to any expectations. I came to Honors to be academically challenged and surrounded by peers with the same thrive for knowledge. I found out quite quickly that this simply is not the case. The students are not as gifted as many seem to think; one of my peers stated that when the Earth goes behind the Sun, the Sun casts a shadow on the Earth. Many of them simply arrive at Honors in fifth grade and lose all thrive for a higher education within a few months. Also, while some teachers are truly fantastic, many are quite the opposite. The coursework is mediocre at best; I've put minimal effort into all of my courses and I'm receiving grades ranging from 95-103. It's also a terrible social environment. The school is excessively clique-y; I've already been shoved into the "losers" clique (which I don't mind at all; I love my friends), and many people won't talk to me just because of it. I was cyber-bullied by a student before I even started classes in September. All in all, honors is really just a letdown and I wish I'd chosen a different school to attend for the next four years.

I am a CHS parent. City Honors is part of the Buffalo Public Schools. It does a great job fulfilling its mission as the accelerated honors magnet for the City of Buffalo. The school is newly renovated & has a flourishing International Baccalaureate Program (IB). It is also a school that does not allow the students to avoid intellectual challenges. Everyone takes 3 AP courses & 1 IB course in high school. ALL students go off to college being extremely well prepared to meet the challenges of higher education. Additionally, administrators take time away from their own families to come to away games and meets. Many of the teachers do the same. I would say 95% of the teachers come in early, stay late, and are extremely dedicated. I've never seen a school with so many clubs & afterschool activities. The dedication of a vast majority of the faculty is truly remarkable. That said, City Honors IS a public school, so it does not have the same resources that private schools (with $15,000-$20,000/year tuitions). Students also cannot avoid the mandatory challenging courses. If you want your child to receive the BEST POSSIBLE grades 5-12 education in WNY, then City Honors is it.
--Submitted by a parent

I graduated from City Honors two years ago, and though I'm not sure how much has changed in the years I've been gone, I can say my experience within the school was not a pleasant one. Many people have a multitude of illusions about the school, and how it's supposedly so much better than others. That's not at all true. It's a school full of gifted children and young adults who are forced into classes they might not want to take, forced to pay for (if they're not unfortunate enough to be able to have them paid for) and take advanced (AP and IB) exams- usually for the same classes they had no interest in. The administration cares only for their own school ratings, and most will not help you in any way if you're struggling. There also seems to be a misconception about the teachers. Most are washed out, waiting for their retierment, and only about half come in early enough for a student to seek help before it's time for homeroom. A lot of teachers stay after, as well, but because they're running clubs. Only a few offer help. Also, unless your child goes through the rigor of being full IB, they will be looked down upon and offered less help preparing for college than the others.

Teachers do not make a school. The intellect and ability of a student does. I am a freeman a City Honors, and have been severely disappointed. City Honors was always held to be this kind of Mecca for students, it has been seen as the only school worth caring about in Buffalo. This, however, and according to many other students, not parents who have bought into the falsehoods that this schools past great deeds have earned it, is false. Teachers at CHS are only average, assigning mediocre work and just prepping us for mindless sate exams. Administration is severely flawed, as well. Teachers live in fear that they, too could be laid off by our train wreck of a school board. New teachers are belittled and hazed be ones with "Tenure", who have long since burnt out and lost any passion for their profession, and now just talk at a class instead of actively teaching them. City Honors may have used to be a great school, and is no longer, but parents who believe that they know over their own children have told the media, and the country, otherwise. It's time to expose CHS as the disaster that it is.

I am a freshman at City Honors and I've been going there since 5th grade, and I absolutely love it. If I had to go to any other high school, I would break down. I've made so many wonderful friends and I'm associated with countless other fantastic students. I have no idea where the review below me came from because it's definitely not true, I have never been bullied nor have I witnessed or heard of anyone being bullied at this school, EVER. And the school's location may be slightly challenging, considering the fact that we don't have a field for soccer, football, lacrosse or rugby, but it definitely doesn't impair our activities. We play after school in Delaware park or at other schools, and we can condition in the gym, pool, fitness room, or the sketchy park across the street. At this school we have IB, which is a program that most students in Buffalo don't get. It gives us an opportunity to earn up to a full year of college credits, saving parents 10s of thousands of dollars. We're encouraged to pursue art, music, sports, clubs, and volunteering, and I couldn't ask for a school that better suits me.

Admittedly, the academics of this school are, for obvious reasons, superb. Save for a few lapses in teacher quality, this school is among the best of the best in western New York. However, one should be aware that though academics are the primary reason for attending a school, being immersed in a poor environment not conducive to learning or succeeding cancels the quality academics. I am a graduate from the class of 2010, and never in my life have I been so bullied, slandered, and overall miserable in a school. Some of the teachers even engaged in spreading malicious rumors about me. Many of my friends felt the same way. I did decently academically, but had it not been for the incessant bullying and yes, even harassment, from other students, I might have succeeded even more so. I am now happily in college, which is quite a few times more difficult than City Honors. But why do I succeed here? It's because I have peers who respect me and treat me with dignity. Feel free to disagree if you'd like, but the four years spent at City Honors were possibly the worst four years of my life.

I go to this school and it's not as great as these parents seem to be saying. I'm a senior and I don't think it's really fair for the parents to be commenting on a school they don't go to. It has a wonderful reputation, true, but the administration is absolutely terrible and there's little to no social life within the student population. Frankly, school spirit is minimal. This school is also extremely cliquey. People tend to gravitate towards their one group of friends and stay there. It is an unhealthy and extremely competitive environment. Students are also forced into classes they have no interest in. Some of my friends are taking Latin 1 in their senior year because there are no other electoral options. I don't mean to deteer anyone from a great education, I'm just being honest. I wish I knew this before I enrolled.

City honors has a wonderful academic reputation. It test scores are very high and the kids there are bright and extremely hard working. My daughter loved her time there and has done very well since graduating. However, to use the term 'elite' is not at all appropriate and misleading for people considering this school versus private education. There is a great deal of socio-economic and ethnic diversity here, which has to be something you are comfortable with in a high school environment.
--Submitted by a parent