Centralia High School

The teachers here tend to be pretty good. Unfortunately, the administrators for this school and those for the entire district are extremely far right. This mindset tends to favor Christians and middle class white people and target the poor and especially the minority poor.
—Submitted by a parent

I love this school. The teachers are great. And so is the cirriculum. The classes are a little big, but the teachers make time for every student to see them personally. If requested.
—Submitted by a student

The administration and teachers target students that they perceive as being low-income, untraditional, or troublemakers. These are the students that should receive the most support, but at CHS the strategy is invest resources in the docile, the middleclass and athletic and try to eliminate the rest by harassing them with disciplanry threats, poor educational delivery, and exluding them from scholarship and leadership opportunities. It is a long pattern. I was fortunate to have a parent that was involved. She advocated for me when CHS tried to suspend me after I was out sick - they refused to believe my Dr.'s note was real! Unfortunately, the youth without active parents in their lives are often the ones targeted because it is easy prey. Schools should not set kids up for failure and all youth should have an equal opportunity to a quality education.
—Submitted by a former student

I think the school's ok. Not the best but not the worst. Theres not alot of things to do after school for the students. The clubs are very limited.
—Submitted by a student

I was a student at Centralia High School, and I absolutely loved my time there. The teachers are all friendly, and care about the students' progress in their classrooms. If a student needs help, the teachers are more than willing to spend the extra time to help them out or find them a tutor if he or she requests one. The sports programs are all very strong. I specifically played soccer and fastpitch, and the coaching was excellent. My 4 years at Centralia High School were definitely some of the best years of my life.
—Submitted by a former student

The administration and overall staff is unfortunately more interested in making the educational proccess less painfull for them as opposed to doing what is best for each individual student.
—Submitted by CHS Student, a student

I hated Centralia high school. It seems as though if your not up to a certain social standard the teachers could care less about you. I hated school for the simple fact a kid with a higher social status would get helped and the kids on the lower social standing like me would never get any help at all, so basically if your family doesn't have money you mean nothing to the school.
—Submitted by Jennifer Sheldon, a former student

I am a former graduate of CHS, and I can honestly say I wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else. I did have the advantage of taking advanced and honors classes, which is where you find the best teachers clasically. I participated in dramatics, leadership, and sports, all great experiences. I think you get out of a school experience what you put in, so this is a big part of why I viewed my experience so positively. I thought that for a small school, the teachers were fabulous and caring. Every single kid will remember Mr. Gilmore and many others who improved the quality of not only our education but our lives. I do have one last thing to say, if your kids stay out of trouble, you don't have to deal with the administration much. Teach your kids how to get the best from life.
—Submitted by Amanda Sell, a former student

I am a former CHS Grade and had an excellent experience. However I have recently seen how the school has gone down hill. It starts with the administration, which I believe is one of the worst in the state. Unfortunately, the principal has driven away some of the top teachers and faculty members. I still have Tiger pride but I am very disappointed in what has happened to this school.
—Submitted by a former student

My daughter's friend, who attended CHS, recently passed away. She was more on the rebelious side, but overall a wonderful person and a tragic loss. The school barely responded at all to my daugther and her friend's grief. I am sure that if her friend was into sports and school spirit, they would have done much more. But they didn't. This school doen't realized the feelings of their students, and that is just wrong.
—Submitted by a parent

I am very disillusioned by by the athletics at this school, especially the baseball program. I feel the coaches care more about winning at any cost than the individual students. Students who have lived in the district and worked through the program and are good athletes don't matter. Coaches care more about winning than academics and kids who stay away from drugs and alcohol. Also, apparently if you aren't tall enough or weigh enough you are worthless. It is sad that this is the message that is being sent. I can no longer support a school district that cares more about winning at all costs than the self esteem and integrity of students.
—Submitted by a parent

There are some awesome teachers at this school who really care about our kids' education. Not thrilled with the administration though.
—Submitted by a parent

This is an ok school. Great teachers like Mr. Gilmore, Mrs. Althauser, Mrs. Thomas, and Mrs. Sande, You cant go wrong. There is a lot that could be improved though!
—Submitted by a parent