Penn Trafford High School

All of the negative reviews that you will find here are from bitter students who did not like the school based on elements like lack of popularity or poor grades, or from parents whose children are doing badly. This is a PHENOMENAL high school that cannot be beat by any other high school in the neighboring districts. They properly prepared me for college and the work force.
--Submitted by a student

Professional, well-educated and caring staff. Thoughtful, well-mannered students. Cutting edge technology. Excellent community support and involvement. World-class education in a small setting. Numerous extra-curricular activities and elective choices. Distinguished arts program. The best overall district in Western PA.
--Submitted by a parent

I'm a former student who is currently at a very rigorous college, and I feel my experience at PT prepared me very well academically; in most cases I feel even more prepared than my peers, many of whom attended private high schools. While the music and art instructors are excellent, they recieve a lack of funding from the administration. The high school has three guidance couselors although there are just less than 400 hundred students in each class. Students are assigned to a counselor for all four years. I met with my counselor for the last time at the beginning of my senior year (I went to PT all four years) and she thought I had just transferred there! And she is supposed to be writing my letter of reccomendation for college?
--Submitted by a student

There seems to be no leadership here. The good teachers the district does have either seem to leave or 'burn out ' in a few years. The teachers seem to have generally poor morale and it carries over in there work. Special Ed. seems to be the focus of the administration. Facilities are average at best when compared to districts close to them. PT has a very undeserved high rating. I guess if you tell people a lie long enough, they will eventually believe it.
--Submitted by a parent

excellent school district. i would definitely recommend it to others.
--Submitted by a student

I cannot believe all the focus given to special needs children in the schools. My son is always waiting for these kids to 'catch on'. And at times he is the one helping them! iam not paying school taxes so my son can twiddle his thumbs waiting all day. Its my son who does very well in school, that is left back! the special needs kids need to be in a 'special needs school'.
--Submitted by a parent

As a former student of PT and seeing other school districts now, I believe PT is not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Yes, there are bad teachers who don't care (but what district doesn't have those) and focusing on those bad teachers makes everyone overlook the great teachers there are who truly care about the students. Also the extracurriculars at PT are decent and have a lot of student participation which makes them better. The guidance department is below par and don't really help with anything except the one time you meet with them during your freshman year. The schools are pretty old, but I've seen worse. Overall, it's not as bad as people are making it out to be and I feel I got a good education from caring teachers.
--Submitted by a student

As a parent of recent graduate, I was suprised at the lack of support by the guidance department. I guess I expected more personalized advice and support as far as choosing colleges, what scholarships to apply for, what options or avenues make sense based on the student's individual strengths, weaknesses, personality, likes, dislikes ... they basically give every kid a website to do that on, a page of scholarships anyone can apply for and that seemed to be about it. I didn't expect someone to step me through the entire process from applications to financial aid, but I guess I did expect a little more 'guidance'.
--Submitted by a parent

As a new parent here I am impressed at the quality of education. The first thing my kids noticed in moving here last year is that kids listen in the classrooms and the teachers spend their time teaching, not disciplining the kids that are disruptive. As a matter of fact, there are few if any disruptions. Huge improvement. I am dissappointed in the fact that the district does not have an orchestra. A school district of this size should look into an orchestra program.
--Submitted by a parent

Mediocre schools. No racial or ethnic diversity. No drive or support of academic achievement other than the national honor society. AP classes are not up to par with other school districts and inflated grades by assigning vast amounts of extra credit work are the norm. Standards tests results prove PT is an average school in a state ranking closer to the bottom than the top in student achievement.
--Submitted by a parent