Scarsdale Senior High School

Scarsdale is a little too expensive and expects a little way too much from its students that it undermines the school system. For instance their alternative school is a cross section of the ENTIRE high school. Alternative schools are for students who are at risk academically for an array of reasons; it should never be for most students. If Scarsdale wants to experiment teaching approaches, do it on your own time, not on the student's time. If you want a reasonable education and still have some diversity, go to Great Neck. This school is not at all spectacular, as it does not offer any full-inclusion programs for individuals with mental retardation. It also does not have an inclusion policy for the rest of the students with disabilities.

I think this school does an excellent job of preparing kids for college. It's curriculum catalog reads like a college course catalog and most teachers are top notch. Since attending this school, my kid has been more excited about learning and advancing than he has ever been. Isn't that what a great school is supposed to do?
--Submitted by a parent

The WSJ survey for the best schools in 12/07 listed 65 schools based upon the likelihood of success in getting into Ivy League Schools. (http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-COLLEGE0711-sort.html). Scarsdale did not make the list, which had an acceptance range to Ivy League schools of 26-7.8%. The high school routinely blames parents for causing stress in their children and refuses to take any serious measures to reduce any stress they cause themselves. They just talk about how wonderful their programs are and pretty much ignore the kids. I told my son he could get any grades he wanted and he still had severe problems with stress...
--Submitted by a parent

The July 1, 2011 review seems to have been written by someone with more emotion than limited insight, which is unfortunate (Ivy League schools do not give athletic scholarships for example), and I know literally dozens of SHS students who have gotten into top colleges on their merits. SHS is considered among the top public schools in the nation (the WSJ had it about fifth among public schools three years ago), and most colleges considered SHS graduates very favorably. The environment is challenging for the top students, but less so for those who choose to express themselves in other ways. In my experience (a collective eight going on nine years), pressure is much more a function of the family environment than of the actual academic setting, so if criticism is due it seems to be better targeted at the community as a whole. There are top teachers there who challenge the kids - and those who want to rise to the occasion must push themselves. This seems a good thing.
--Submitted by a parent

Don't send your kids here...really bad place. the ivy league schools only take kids from scarsdale if their parents know someone or they win a sports scholarship. the athletes of this town are famous for breaking serious rules of conduct and never being held to account. this is so because the administrators know these kids are the only real hope for keeping their acceptance rates to top schools up...like the opposite of the nike commercial "just don't do it." look for a program where kids learn something other than how to be stressed and regurgitate info...
--Submitted by a parent

Look carefully at this program before you drink the Koolaid...Current practice in education acknowledges that maximum learning takes place in an environment of moderate challenge. No challenge or extreme challenge short circuit learning. Scarsdale operates in an environment of extreme challenge where learning is superficial, lifetime learning is damaged and children take on stress induced symptoms that lead to self harm. Professors reviewed the curriculum and found them giving premed weed out exams to 14 year olds without fully teaching them the material. Many good colleges look poorly on Scarsdale graduates, and many parent pull their children due to stress.
--Submitted by a parent

While this school may look beautiful from the outside, the actual substance leaves much to be desired. The classes are very large, advising suffers from too many children per advisor, and everything is overly competitive. I found it to be a toxic environment to learn and grow in. I'm glad that I was able to get out of this system.
--Submitted by a student

Excellent choices of courses and extracurrriculars, but REALLY high pressure. Some alumni have seen college (GOOD colleges) as easy by comparison. NOTE: previous reviewer praised AP courses, so I will update that by pointing out that they have now removed all AP classes to be replaced with 'AT' (Advanced Topics) which do not teach to the AP tests, meaning that the class may be more fun but will lower students' grades on AP exams.
--Submitted by a student

as a student, i have personally experienced the school inside and out. it is a top school with many courses, great teachers, great resources, great everything! school's involvement of the community and outside (civ-ed, tri-m music honor society, and many, many clubs) many sports and aps offered.
--Submitted by a student

Personally, my children have learned a great deal about academics as well as information to aid in their outside lives. Scarsdale High School is definitely within the top 10 public high schools in the United States.
--Submitted by a parent