Emmaus High School

The outstanding education my daughter received at Emmaus High School led to a full tuition 4 year scholarship at a prestigious private college. She entered college with 27 credits she accumulated through AP courses. With a solid academic preparation she obtained at EHS she was able to graduate with highest honors from college and obtained 2 scholarships for graduate study. She is presently in an honorable career with an outstanding firm. The parents of many of her classmates could write virtually the same message.
--Submitted by a parent

Where to begin? The administration is poor to say the least; the only high point is that they manage to keep most of the kids out of prison, and even that is questionable. They hand out Saturday detentions to the point that it looks like a regular school day when the kids are entering the building, and most are for minor infractions. There is a rampant drug problem among the children in the school and in no way is this being addressed. The students are questionable at best and are lacking in most moral areas and have little to no interpersonal skills unless you count threats and fighting among characteristics that are positive. I pulled ALL of my children out and actually opted to educate them elsewhere. I would rather pay Central Catholic ungodly sums of money (and we are not Catholic) than send my children to EHS. This saddens me as I am a graduate of EHS myself and have family who had taught for East Penn for years. They agree, times have changed, the families have changed and so have the teachers. Attitude reflects leadership, all of which are lacking in the EHS of today.
--Submitted by a parent

My son is in his 12 year of school, and the teachers and staff have done an outstanding job preparing Michael for the next level of education. He has made it to AP courses,because of the support provided by the counselors and teachers. Thank you EHS!!!!
--Submitted by a parent

Having 3 kids and a grandchild who have gone through Emmaus, I can safely say the focus of the school and the district is on the college-bound student. Programs and encouragement for those students has been and continues to be very good. However, this school discourages and in fact has a tendency to 'push out' those students who will terminate their education after high school or who look toward a trade school.
--Submitted by a parent

Emmaus H.S. is the most overcrowded and unprofessional school. The grading system horrible and last year I was told in many classes there were only a 'class set of books'. The administration had no clue until I brought it to their attention.
--Submitted by a parent

I graduated last year and it was such a great school. The teachers were helpful and nice, the activities and sports always kept things exciting, and the students really showed a lot of school spirit. I'm so glad I went to this school!
--Submitted by a student

EHS has great teachers and more extracurricular activities than anyone could imagine. My favorite part of the education was the availability of a strong computer science program. It has enabled me to excel in the field of IT Project Management. As others have mentioned, the 65/74/84/92 grading system will be a disadvantage when colleges look at a students GPA. However, many students took honors and AP classes which gave .5 or 1 GPA point extra (an A from an AP class is worth 5 points when calculating your GPA instead of the usual 4). The school has been facing an overcrowding issue for many years now. I always found it nice that many parts of the school were new or remodeled.
--Submitted by a student

most of the teachers are great. the district has all the extracurricular activities for students with various interests. Emmaus field hockey is renowned, as well as basketball, and band. Due to the downtown emmaus area, some students have bad influence and lower the school grades, but most students do well. The school is getting really populated, and there should be an action taken to minimize the problem that is going to rapidly enlarge in the future. LOVE the principal, but he is retiring and i don't know how the new principal is going to lead us. Also, ESPD has made the most student and teachers names on the Hall of the Fame. 7 teachers and 9 students (im almost positive), where the other school districts can't even reach.ESPD is over all great, but the grading system frustruates the students.
--Submitted by a student

Very strong academic and extra curricular activities. Produces many outstanding students, many attending the best colleges in the country. Strong administrators as well as a strong athletic director who has improved our facilities immensely. Very large student body creating positive competition. Plans to split the high school will offer better opportunities to more students.
--Submitted by Jeff Germani, a parent

Emmaus High School needs to split into two schools. Strong athletics teams should not be the goal of public education. I am sorry to see the new principal leave after so short a tenure, as I believe she had a positive impact on the school. The district needs a new, strong Superintendent with vision and leadership to correct severe and worsening overcrowding problems and to give guidance on how to regain lost academic leadership in the region.
--Submitted by a parent