Woodrow Wilson High School

The school is what you make of it. My children graduated from Wilson. My son did not work to the best of his ability and had to repeat 12th grade English. Ironically, that English teacher remains one of his most favorites and second time around, he committed to learn. My daughter are over achievers. One daughter was Valedictorian and graduated from William and Mary magna cum laude. She's in grad school now and still achieving top honors. The base she received from Wilson is part of the foundation the wanted her to succeed. My youngest daughter struggled in elementary school; nearly failing first grade. She worked her butt off, graduated fourth in her class and is on the President's list in College. (president's list is higher than dean's list) Yes, the best teachers are in the AP classes or the honors classes, but that is going to be true in nearly every school. Parents have to be involved in their children's education and it doesn't stop after elementary school. Discipline is a must. And the student must be willing to work. No one ever said it was fair or no work, to succeed in school. Wilson gets a bad rep from the few who choose to disobey and generally not care
—Submitted by a parent

This school is horrible. Academically it one of the worst in the state, not an opinion but a fact. The drop-out rate is also the worst at over 50%. The teachers just do not simply care and the 12th grade govt. class is just as easy as the one in the fourth grade. The only classes that are any challenging are the AP Bio, AP English, and Global Affairs classes. The sports teams are horrible and ironically most funding is spent on the sports. The walls are made of cheap sheet metal because when the school was first built they thought it would be smart to not have any walls at all. Half of the elective classes are just repeated classes with different names or named in a way to make the school seem more intelligible. The students are probably the worst part since they never obey teachers and act like children, constantly running to every fight and jumping on lockers. Proof of this is last year when a student brought a gun to school, only made worse by how poorly the adminstrators handled it. The only redeemable aspect of the school is the size makes it less intimidating to freshmen.
—Submitted by a student

I graduated from WWHS in June of 2009 and have taken every honor level class the school has to offer includeing being a participant in the International Studies Magnet program housed in the building. In my 4 years there I have noticed the problem is the students. It is very hard to try and teach when you are babysitting the entire block. All the teachers are highly educated and more than willing to help any student if the student meets them halfway. I have seen teachers leave after 1 year of being there because the students namely freshman have no respect for anyone. I left Wilson High with a 3.0 G.P.A, Magnet Completion, Honor Status, The Governer's Civic Seal of Excellence, over 10 grand in grant money and 23 college credits. It is not a bad school no matter what anyone says.

I am a former student of WWHS. I attended from 2007-2008. I was deeply involved in the ROTC program, and loved every bit of it. This school is not as bad as people make it out to be. Few problems here and there, but thats going to be anywhere you go. I am sad to say i had to leave before i would've wished, but i will not forget this school, nor the people i knew.
—Submitted by a student

i am attending my senior year at wilson and i don't see anything wrong with the school except maybe some discipline problems but you only see that with freshman. overall it is a nice school. and the new gym looks great
—Submitted by a student

The ROTC at this school is the best ever. And the teachers care for the students.
—Submitted by a student

I have read these reviews and this forum has reinforced my opinion that only those with a grudge or ulterior motive posts. There have been no 'race riots' at WWHS. Not one. Students are not expelled for using curse words at teachers, although I personally think that would be a good idea. However, two things stick out and ring true. 1) the teachers work very hard and 2) The problem is the parents. Let your kids grow up, let them screw up and fail on their own. WWHS is a lot better than some, as good as most. Not perfect, but not what you see reflected in this silly forum.
—Submitted by a parent

I attended Wilson from 2001-2004. I graduated in 2004 in the top 10 of my class. My opinion on the school is this...Academically speaking...there are great opportunities with teachers who are willing to treat your student like an individual with high goals. There are also a ton of art classes as well as sport and music opportunities. I honestly feel that the 'bad students' are a small percentage of the school and I also feel that if parents want to blame the school so much, they should 1st look at the way they raise their children. If there is one thing I noticed in 3 yrs of attending Wilson, it's that parents deny their own role in how their child behaves at school.
—Submitted by Amanda Cruz, a former student

As a current student at Woodrow Wilson High School I think that this school does need alot of work but it has came a long way from what it has been. Just come and sit into a class like an AP class and see that the whole school is not as bad as it seems and that we actually do learn stuff.
—Submitted by a student

Wilson has really disappointed me, I attended this school in 1990 (Manor High) and my child was attending until recently. I took my child out because I was worried about his safety and his overall out look on life. This school is constantly in the news and the police are always carting students off. This school is a major disappointment, the administration keeps putting there blinders on to everything that happens. If you have a goal oriented child with a future don't send them here.
—Submitted by a former student

I have seen some reviews for this school and decided to put my own in respect for the parents who are thinking about letting there children go to this school. My brother came from larkspur middle school then trasfered to this high school. The first thing he noticed is that the students did not respect the teachers. In my view, no parents should send there kids to this school. There are better schools out there and this is one that is far from being one.
—Submitted by a parent

The overall quality of this school is horrible. The teachers are trying so hard but the students have no respect or care about their education. There are way to many disruptive forces at work, and the administration doesn't work together with the parents to resolve anything. This school has really fallen apart at the seams, and I had to pull my child out and put him into private school. I would honestly reconsider before you think of putting your child here. Spend the day there, you will see what I'm talking about. Thanks for Listening.
—Submitted by a parent

I don't go to Wilson, but I will probably go there next year. But I know that the slimate there is very good. There are famous college athletes who went there. The grounds are nice and the library is really resourceful. They just remodeled it, so it probably looks a lot nicer.
—Submitted by a student

The academic quality of this school is the worst out of any other school I have ever attended. Most of our class time is spent talking or wasting time. I learn nothing in any of my classes besides my Advanced Placement ones, which evidently are in the process of being destroyed. The administration in this school is deserving of NO respect in my eyes. They see the problems that the students encounter on a regular basis and do nothing about it. In fact, they do less than the students to take action. I've been attending this school for 3 years and it has not improved not one bit since I first began as a freshman. I strongly encourage Portsmouth Public Schools to evaluate its goals and mission statement because as of now it has no positive affect on Wilson High School at all.
—Submitted by a student

Woodrow Wilson High was a very positive expierience for me. A transfer my senior year from cross-town rival Churchland, I found the diversity amoung the students and staff culturally satisfying. Though the main emphaisis did'nt lay primarily on education, but a full circle of extracirrucualar, and extra help was found in every corner of school. At my departure in 1995, Woodrow Wilson had excellent music programs, and a redeveloping sports department, with all sports involved. In my opinion Woodrow Wilson helped me prepare for life outside of Portsmouth.
—Submitted by Jason Williford, a former student

This school needs a lot of work. The school itself used to be Manor High, therefore it is very old. It is constantly having race riots within the student population, they have recently enforced a zero tolerance profanity rule. That means if a student curses, they get 3-5 days OSS and if it is directed at a teacher, they get expelled. A school that is steadily getting worse, worried about profanity. So lets just kick them out so we can really ruin there education, you know besides the prejudice teachers and the ones who dont know how to properly teach your children. So on a scale of 1-10 i give this school a 4.
—Submitted by kristy stevens, a student