Clements High School

I wish I had never attended Clements. As a student that has attended Clements High School for all four years, I can say, beyond any reasonable doubt, that these have been miserable years. Students here do not focus on the passion, rigor, and breadth of learning and instead ask, "What do I need to know to get an A, and elevate my GPA?" The teachers assign piles of busy work that leaves students stressed. Competition is healthy, yes, but not at the expense of learning. The school's aesthetic value is also nonexistent with few windows and fluorescent, narrow little halls for 2,000+ students. A smaller, healthier environment that encourages learning would be infinitely better.
--Submitted by a student

I have not wanted to post this because it is still so upsetting for me to even think about, but the previous post has me thinking otherwise. I had a horrible run in with an AP at Clements. I had tried to contact her for three days through email and leaving messages, but to no avail. I was extremely concerned about my child and her mental health. A VERY serious issue. Friday afternoon, I call and leave a message (again) with her secretary, that if I did not hear from her by the end of the day I would have to go over her head. She calls me shortly after that and proceeded to tear into me and tell me she's busy and shame on me for threatening her secretary. I was in tears by the end of the phone call. She even had the nerve to put me on speakerphone so the entire office could hear me crying. I am a teacher myself, so I know know how badly the AP handled this. Shame on her, and shame on the principal for not taking a more serious approach. The entire situation was about my child. But this AP seemed determined to make it all about her. How unprofessional.
--Submitted by a parent

Not safe. A Principal actually protected a student that threatened physical harm to my child. The district as well as the school was so uncooperative that my child was left with one choice, to withdraw completely. The school didn't even tell me about paperwork that had to be filled out when reporting a bullying incident. They purposely omitted that info. I am Clements Alum and I thought it would be great for my child to go to my Alma Mater. But I'm very disappointed. The principal broke the law and nothing happens. Instead my child's education is severely damaged.
--Submitted by a parent

Overwhelming sadness that permiates through the walls. Unheathly competativeness that teaches kids learning is not important. Class rank and SAT scores are the only thing that matters... Would love to know the number of students that attend Clements that are being prescribed anti-anxiety medication...not kidding.
--Submitted by a student

My daughter graduated from Clements 3 years ago and my son is currently a sophmore at Clements. It has a competitive academic environment and the student must be willing to take mostly AP and Honors classes if they want to be in the top 20% of their class. This is good or bad depending on your student. Most teachers hold before of after school tutoring sessions four days a week. Students must take the initiative to seek help. My daughter went to a small highly rated private school and has been very successful. Many of her peers came exclusive private schools in our area and struggled to be successful. Clements prepared her to succeed in college. If you want your student to have loads of free time this is not the school for you. Students who excel will be spending several hours every night doing homework assignments and preparing for exams. However, my son has had the time to become an Eagle Scout and a Black Belt in Karate so there is still time for extra curricular activities but your student needs to be organized.
--Submitted by a parent

I've attended clements 3 years, Very Good School. Students are quiet in class and they all pay attention. Some students are competitive with their grades which is a good thing. Teachers teach very well. as you can see, the people who have given clements a bad review are NOT talking about the education. i am so glad i go to this great school that has prepared me for college.
--Submitted by a student

This year started out kind shaky with adjusting to a new school and highschool itself. Our experience so far is that it is a great school. A huge part of the success of the school is the make-up families and students who attend CHS. This school is dominated by a majority of students who want to do well and achieve a lot with their future careers. This school is able to focus on academics rather than discipline. It is not overwhelming but maybe challenging at times but very achievable by the average student who works har.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is not what people say it is. To name a few, the dress code is barely enforced, really not at all. The staff doesnt listen to the students or hear them out. They dont work with students really well, unless youre more of the popular crowd. The school parking lot, you pay thirty dollars to park, seniors get spots, but they dont enforce other students not parking there. You have to be a junior or a senior yet freshmen, softies and people who didnt pay park their anyways. The school work is crap. Some teachers dont care, others press to hard to fast. It's just a down right no. It was a mistake to transfer thinking it'll help me, but I take two courses, BIMM and WEB with the same teacher, and there's not much different in the class like the course description said. Sad.
--Submitted by a student

In my opinion, as a foreigner living in the US for just 3 years, most of the criticism I've read in those comments is inherent to the american society, like competitiveness and an open privilege to the top students, which is just natural, as I heard that most kids are just not interested at all. We found out soon enough that the only way of getting a reasonably decent class would be taking AP and Honors courses, where the 75% kids that are not interested wouldn't disturb. I'm amazed to see that once you've made your decision to go for it, the contents of the AP and Honors courses compare to all other hightly considered High Schools in Europe and South America and completely disagree that it all comes down to mermorization. All the AP and Honors courses propose lots of challenge, promoting critical thinking.
--Submitted by a parent

I am a former student of Clements. It seems, by reading the reviews, very little has changed in some areas. I remember having anywhere from 50 to 200 questions in science due the next day. Some of the teachers were amazing & others (including counselors) didn't look at you if you weren't in the top 10%. However, if a student plans to go to college it is important for them to learn to be self-disciplined & gain good time management skills. Also understand that a teacher will not always be avaliable, but there are other options (people) to go to for help.
--Submitted by a student