Ennis High School

Well where to begin. Very low expectations of students. Text books are very rarely taken home. Very little parent involvement for the kids who need it the most. High School if anything was young adult day care with a lot of busy work. Way to much focus on athletics and TAKS now EOC exams. In regards to EOC exams because instructors jobs are on the line its obvious why they teach little else than to the test. Administrative staff is very friendly. Very low end student body though. Not a place I would want my children to attend. Very clear divide between low and high end students which is primarily because of generational poverty in Ennis, TX but that is a different bag of worms all together. They have made great improvements technologically but have disregarded prevalent issues that need to be fixed in the classroom in regards to unqualified instructors (teachers who see teaching as a job not a passion and pursued such as a fall back career). The bar has certainly been lowered in Ennis, TX where failing is literally passing. A score of a 65 is enough to graduate. I would like to think taxpayers deserve better for their children than a second rate education.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm a former student who graduated in 2009. I currently go to Texas A&M University, but I know high school did not prepare me for college. I never felt challenged there. Graduated top 10%, NHS, yet now that I am attending college I have realized everything I've learned has not been because of EHS. I understand children will not attempt to do the work if they are challenged more, but maybe that will encourage tutoring or more one-on-one teacher time.
—Submitted by a student

Apparently these people that are posting negative comments have disruptive kids that have no sense of intelligence. If you have a child that wants to learn, they are willing to help you all the way. We even had a teacher offer to come to our house and help her if she needed it. They were more than willing to offer up their cell numbers to help students and go the extra mile. I really commend the teachers and faculty for being so involved with the parents and students. If you want to be involved, they will be there. You have to make the first step. You can't just sit back and fail and wonder why no one helped you.
—Submitted by a parent

There are a lot of distractions with physical alteration and classroom disruptions. The main goal for the teacher is to have their students pass the yearly state test, pretty much just meet the minimum. There was not enough support or help for those students who wanted to go to college and were first in their family to do it.

We have the best football team in our district, plus I have watched us grow from a graduating class of less than 200, to 300 plus students. It is truly amazing to what our own school from when I graduated really become so wonderful and continue to have growth as it has.

The school is great, as well as most of the faculty. As the student who posted on Oct. 23 said, the teacher try to be as flexible as possible, but at the same time are very strict. And they do give out text books, and in almost all my classes i have homework everyday, I just finish it at school. I am a freshman and so far this school is excellent. But as I said, some of the faculty are very demanding and hate to be proven wrong, as i have had to do many of times.
—Submitted by a student

It is a great school! Everyone is nice and teachers will help you out if you have a problem with school work or out of schol! I like it! :)
—Submitted by a student

One of the greatest schools in Texas,and it also has one of the best atheletic programs as well! Go Lions!
—Submitted by a parent

Glad my child has graduated.There are few textbooks to send home-even for AP classes. There is too much push to pass the TAKS test and very little learning on anything other than that. What a waste. Very little preparation for college. The teachers hands are tied but they do the best they can.
—Submitted by a parent

Well folks, if you don't have a house in the district, you might want to look elsewhere. If your kids are able to get into the 'AP' area you'll survive. If I could repeat the move I made 16 years ago, I wouldn't move to the Ennis school district. But I also realize that public education in general is going down hill everywhere, so Ennis is no different.
—Submitted by d d, a parent

My opinion on this particular school is that they are putting too much pressure on the kids to pass the TAKS, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but they could focus a little on the attitude of the kids, because kids may wear the uniform to school, but once they are out they take it off, which also gives some of them the idea that no one is better than them. The school could reply to this and say that it's the parents job outside of school, but the truth is that the attitude and language the children use begins at school, applying good behavior, and no vulgar language in school could really improve the kids overall performance inside and out of school.
—Submitted by a former student

I like the uniform thing BUT what kind of jacket or coat can my High School son wear when it turns off cold outside? Anything besides a letterman jacket?
—Submitted by Sherry, a parent

Students receive no books or homework to bring home. Makes me wonder how the school is able to communicate so much information in such a short period of time.
—Submitted by John Harley Lindley, a parent