Upper St. Clair High School

I am a former student. I attended Upper St. Clair (USC) for grades 9 and 10. My father was then transferred to Canada. I would rate the school experience at USC as poor in comparison. Teacher quality poor, academic quality dismal. I found that there was a much greater focus on extra curricular activities over academic ones. While the school facilities were better than the Canadian ones, the teacher quality and involvement was far superior in Canada. I currently live in California. You can see why the American education system is so poor compared to other countries. The fact that a lousy school like USC can get such a high rating shows the problems with education in the USA. When it came to math, geography, history, English, writing etc. The Canadian school far out matched USC. I had to work much harder to succeed there, yet my experience was much more fulfilling. I found the teachers and the administration completely out of touch and in some case quite unprofessional. The classes too large, and disorganized. In the Canadian school you were expected to work more on your own but were offered more guidance and were expected to act more respectful.

One parent writes "the school is very highly regarded nationally"; I would be curious to know where that information came from ~ the realtor? This district, or state has a "blue ribbon" award program in place, that basically requires administration to pull a couple of teachers from a school each year to fill out the paperwork, so that the school qualifies for an award. Realtors love it, helps them sell properties in the area. I once asked administration if they ever followed up their AP students to see how many had placed out of their college classes. They had not, and secondly, they also did not acknowledge that most of their students did not even take the exams. According to the students they felt they were not adequately prepared.
--Submitted by a parent

One reviewer stated "students come from families who are committed to academic success". Well I can tell you that this statement is not always true. I am an alumni and I graduated in 2006. I had many friends who's parents did not stress academic success. Class size is not that big, teachers are willing to work with the students. There is a resource center where kids can go and get help on their free time. They don't have study hall. They want us to learn to manage our time. My freshman year the old principle (no longer there) told my class "You don't have study hall in college so why not learn time management now"

I am an alumnus of USC HS. Whithout a doubt, this school prepared me for college! The wide variety of class offerings, and extracurricular activities are excellent. I can't speak of the current faculty (as I graduated almost 20 years ago), but while attending, I found most faculty members very qualified. While the school is very affluent and has very snobby cliques, most students can find a niche of friends with whom they share interests.

The high school and district are vastly overrated. The secret to this district's success is that its students come from families who are committed to academic success and learning in spite of the mediocrity of the district. This school district's achievement scores would be modest if they didn't have the benefit of the most highly educated and affluent population to draw from. As one student said, if you're not a jock or a cheerleader, the teachers and administrators don't care about the kid. Also, the teachers and administrators give preferential treatment to kids whose parents play school politics. If you have an academically gifted child, save your money and go to a district with lower taxes and a stable population like Baldwin, Bethel Park, West Jefferson etc. Your child will achieve the same results at a much lower cost.
--Submitted by a parent

Upper St. Clair HS has excellent teachers and parents are active. The school is very highly regarded nationally which benefits students applying to top colleges. Extracurricular activities are popular and include traditional activities such as sports and band, to overseas travel for those students interested. I have 4 boys and have been in tune and very pleased with the school.
--Submitted by a parent

Coming from a current senior, Upper St. Clair High School is without a doubt the best public high school in Pittsburgh, and probobly Pennsylvania. I don't know what some of these people are talking about saying that kids don't learn anything, this school will prepare you for college. Period. Almost EVERYONE goes to college, in fact I don't know of a single person who isn't attending one next year, the point is that the student body is full of nice friendly people and the faculty cares about the education of each and every student. If you want a good school district in western Pennsylvania, USC baby
--Submitted by a student

I used to like the district when i was in elementary... after that highschool was a zoo i hated it and transfered into a private school some of the teachers do not teach! so when SAT's come up we will all be lost!! and all students are big snotty brats!
--Submitted by a student

this school was awful! no one learns anything, and if you weren't a cheerleader or jock, they don't care about you at all
--Submitted by a student

Upper St. Clair School District is truly outstanding. We have one child who attended K through 12 and is now in college, and a younger child who is currently enrolled in H.S. We are grateful every day that we chose to move into this community and that our children have had such an outstanding education and positive community experience. It has made such a difference in their lives...
--Submitted by a parent