Lamar High School

I'm new here this year ! Very crowdy school ... But good We have nice teachers but also really mean ones ... Our Conscellors are present for us and really they do a great job ! But the principal i have never seen him ... It is not a real ghetto school as the reviews says but the teachers are trying really hard ...
—Submitted by a student

I will post early observations from the 1st day in the hope that someone is listening. I heard many good things about Lamar from lots of people before my teen started there. However ... The school is seriously overcrowded and drive-up access is long and arduous. "Renovations" were not complete when school began, and air conditioning does not work well. The A/C issue is doubly important because many of the students smelled of smoke. Lockers have been removed, which may be a good strategy to address certain issues, but begs the question as to how and why things got to where locker removal was necessary. Science texts were >7 years out of date. This rating is preliminary and may change for better or worse, but what has come up so far concerns me. I'll follow up after some time.
—Submitted by a parent

Absolutely worst school in Houston, you are better sending your child to a "lower rated" school in a worst part of town and you may even get better faculty and teachers. According to this website, a great school has excellent teachers, strong principal, and challenging academic programs. The only part I can really attest to is the last one and that is that the IB program is pretty challenging and gets students college ready. However, the majority of this ghetto school chooses not to participate in this. All the good teachers have left, or are trying their hardest to. It isn't a school ,it's a daycare. The teachers don't teach, the kids teach themselves. The handful of teachers here that are great really need to move onto a better school. I am ashamed to say that my child has gone here and I don't plan on keeping her here next year. I don't intend to send my younger children here either. If you can afford it, send them to a private school, if not, try Bellaire. Maybe there the students know who the principal is, whats his name again? I don't think anyone really knows or cares who the principal is, he doesn't do anything anyways. STAY AWAY FROM LAMAR.
—Submitted by a parent

I believe the principal and administration are doing the best they can with the limited tools and budget they have, not to mention their daily batle with a too-powerful teacher's union. Do you really think the principal or staff can pick and choose which students should attend Lamar? Do you think the principal would love to fire some of the dead-weight teachers he is forced to keep? (Note there are some outstanding teachers still at Lamar H.S.) I feel America (and some of bloggers) blame our education system for our youth's short-comings, however I believe the root of the problem is a "man crisis" in this country. Specifically, no man in the house (or an unengaged/uninterested man in the house) usually equals an unmotivated, unaccountable and undisciplined kid which creates a bad learning and social environment for the rest of the kids. Teen pregnancies, drug and alchohol use (not just experimenting), doing the minimum amount of academics just to get a diploma (or dropping out)...usually symptons of a 1 parent family. Look, it's hard enough to raise to a child today with two fit and engaged parents that are watching their kids like a hawk! Stop blaming the school system.
—Submitted by a parent

My child applied to several magnet programs and chose Lamar. My child enjoys his teachers but still could not recognize the principal out of a lineup. Very impersonal school. We had problems with a teacher exhibiting incompetence and inappropriateness in the classroom. Don't bother going to the principal. He doesn't care. You might get lip service but he will protect the teacher. His 'investigation' is to find out what the teacher says and back them. HISD has more issues than finance and testing. It is a broken system. They are banking on the fact that the family will not go public with an issue in the classroom and cover the issue up to protect themselves. Very disappointed.
—Submitted by a parent

This once great school has deteriorated into a ghetto school. The prime reason for this is the principal who would be compared to the Roman emperor Nero who played his fiddle while Rome burned around him. He refuses to believe there is anything wrong with the school while he isolates himself in his office. My child couldn't even identify who he is when I showed her a group of faculty pictures. He has allowed a large group of unmotivated and under achieving students to be transferred to the campus which is causing havoc in many of the classes. The classes are 40+ students, the teachers are miserable, and teachers are planning on leaving if they can find a job somewhere else. I'm transferring my child to Vanguard High School or Bellaire for the next school year. It's a crying shame that the HISD administration doesn't hold this man accountable for what he has done to this school.
—Submitted by a parent

Disgusting. This school smells like dead people, there are ants crawling everywhere, rats in classrooms too! Not only that, it's terrible! I have over thirty five kids in all my classes, and that's the lowest! I haven't learned one thing in my freshman year here and am trying to find a school to switch to. I'm so behind and most my teachers don't even teach me anything. This school spends money on stuff for looking good than teaching the kids! I give kudos to my algebra teacher though, he's amazing! It's to small for all the kids, and it's terrible sitting in those small classrooms.It's also really ghetto. The only good thing is that the kids are very open minded and you will make friends easily here. But there are a lot of drugs floating around the school. I've heard that it gets better your Junior year. Nevertheless, I hate this school, and it is disgusting. And I dont' know many kids who like it. I actually know a lot of kids who are switching next year. To each is their own though.
—Submitted by a student

do not ever send your child to this school if you want the best for them. i highly feel bad for the students who attend lamar high school. the classrooms are so crowded there are about 45-50 students in each class!!! my son had to sit on the floor in 3 of his classes. the only good high schools that aren't ghetto in HISD are bellaire high school and carnegie vanguard high school. i live in the montrose area and am now transferring my child to bellaire. he loves it! do not let your child attend this terrible school.. SO ghetto too. terrible environment. not happy.
—Submitted by a parent

I have attend Lamar High school for 4 years, I have to say that the school offers very good education however, the administration is terrible. There are so many rules imposed by the administration on the teachers that in many instants it prevent teachers from doing there jobs. I took IB classes through out the 4 years, and the school main focus was not the students but the way the school looked, nonetheless there was a horrible money management and there were a lot of issues that causes many good students to lose track. I do however have huge respect for many of the teachers there, because they are truly great I was very involved with the school's clubs and such however school does not offer the students the necessary support to rise to success.
—Submitted by a student

Lamar is ridiculous. They're overcrowded, with almost 50 kids in every class. In some cases, there are even students sitting on the floor or windowsill. If you're placed in the wrong class, you might as well give up on trying to get switched out of it. The administration is very messy and it's easy to fall through the cracks. I'm a sophomore there, and I'm eager to leave as soon as possible.
—Submitted by a student

LAMAR IS A HORRIBLE SCHOOL. Everyone is so caught up in their cliques it makes it hard to make friends if you don't know anybody. The teachers are great are a lot better than the students!
—Submitted by a student

I called Lamar school because I was considering moving to that area and having my boys attend that school. The lady that answered the phone made me believe every bad review they have received. She was rude and mean sounding. I would not consider...

Principal is autocratic and puts up walls to boot. many instances of parents not receiving basic assistance from principal, students needs ignored and teachers under thumb of principal. My daughter was IB and received mostly good classes to a very high level and a couple of awesome teachers but found IB paperwork and process onerous and not value-added. Great kids though -- diverse intelligent --and despite all odds they did end up and some very well-respected colleges/ univ. Jan Forney
—Submitted by a parent

Lamar is a large, public inner city school in Houston, Texas. They have 4000 students, but do an amazing job in getting many of them involved in the International Baccalaureate program.
—Submitted by a parent

I was extremely happy with my experience at Lamar in every way. I was in all IB classes and was very happy academically. I was accepted at Duke and have performed well there. I attended private school at St. John's prior to Lamar and was nervous about switching. In addition, I was happy at Lamar socially and enjoyed the fact that all types of people (preps, hippies, etc) seemed to find a great group of friends there. The only negative comment I can make is that it might not be the best for kids who aren't self-motivated. Lamar is a large school with many distractions, and the IB program is very demanding.
—Submitted by a student

Lamar is probably the best public school (aside from Carnegie) in Houston, but that's not saying much. If you're not in IB, you might as well be anywhere else. I took almost all IB classes and was always shocked by the difference in quality (of teachers and students) in the regular classes. But even a good deal of the IB teachers were really bad and apathetic. Also, the administration is a lesson in chaotic bureaucracy. By my senior year, I was sneaking out early and skipping classes almost every day. I never got caught.
—Submitted by a student

is a great 5 star school it is challenging but gets you ready 4 LIFE the real world
—Submitted by a student

I graduated from Lamar. I agree that if you are not in IB, then its not a good school. Teachers seem to focus on the rich 'gifted' kids who are destined to go to Ivy League colleges. Very stuck up school. What about helping all students succeed. Most of my teachers had such low expectations for students in 'regular' or even 'advanced' classes. I had an awful experience at Lamar.

Best years of my life! Great teachers, fantastic school spirit. Best education you can get!
—Submitted by a parent

Lamar is a wonderful school with so much to offer it's students. Every student is challenged to do their best as a student and as a person. Great teachers + great parent support = excellent students ready to embrace college and the rest of their lives!
—Submitted by a parent