Huntington High School

This school is the epitome of bad education. My courseload of all AP classes rarely garners outside work or research. I can glide without any participation whatsoever, and I still receive A's. Teachers do not strive to make progress in students, and they are ineffective at their goals. Most students lack any motivation whatsoever, and skip class regularly. Administrators do not help the situation, and focus on petty violations like dress code and lunches. This school has a massive truancy problem that has yet to resolved even after intervention by the courts. WESTEST scores show that this school is not succeeding at its job. A smart parent would avoid this school at all costs.
—Submitted by a student

I graduated from HHS in 2009. When I first came to this school I enjoyed the freedoms of a diverse and wonderfully taught school. The teachers knew what they were doing and I was able to find a niche in the student body. It all went downhill in 2006, the year they instituted the Freshman Academy program. That place is now little more than a glorified baby sitting service. Most of the good teachers retired about the same time several fresh, new teachers were hired. Unfortunately, fresh and new doesn't guarantee they knew what they were doing. By the time I graduated, there were cuts to the funding and staff of the music department (there goes arts enrichment) and I was sleeping through every class I was taking while still making good grades. I wrote all of two papers my last two years in high school. That shouldn't have been possible. Also, the administration there was a joke. Not only did they take away every privilege they could, such as eating lunch outside, they instituted a tardy system that couldn't have helped learning. If you weren't on time for class, even by a few seconds, you couldn't go. You were sent to inhouse detention, or alternative school after three offenses.
—Submitted by a student

Sending my child to Huntingto High was the biggest mistake. The teachers only support the athletes and cheerleaders.
—Submitted by a parent

Nice physical facility. Disappointing curriculum for a consolidated school that was supposed to offer more. Does not meet the smart kids expectations. Has to cater to the special ed. crowd.
—Submitted by a parent

I honestly don't think that the school is all that great. There are teachers that care about the students, but there are more that are there just for the pay check and pick favorites. A few of my friends have left because of unfair treatment. I'm not very satisfied with the disipline either.
—Submitted by a student

I graduated in 2006 and am now going to Marshall University. Overall, I enjoyed going to Huntington High and felt they gave me many different opportunities. I was in the Chamber choir and show choir..and it was so much fun! Great emphasis is put on sports though, so the music and theatre departments doesn't get much money/support. Most of my teachers were very nice and personable. Not a bad school at all.
—Submitted by a former student

My son is a Junior at HHS and our experience on 'the hill' has been positive! His teachers, counselor, coaches and principal respond to email and voicemail in a timely manner and show genuine concern. Of course, there is a requirement of the student to behave properly and participate appropriately in the classroom and on and off the playing field. The academics far exceed college entry requirements, w/ multiple opportunities to be involved in music, art, sports of all kinds, etc. I find that many parents are present and active at Huntington High! Whether supporting their child, the team or the school in general, we at HHS have a good attendance and turnout for all events, academic OR athletic. I recommend HHS!
—Submitted by Judy Lageman, a parent

I am military and have transfered to many places, and have been in many school systems. The opportunities at Huntington High are outstanding. No matter what your child is interested in there is a program available. I am confident my children are getting a quality education academically. They are also given the chance to follow their creative interests. Both of my children play sports and the boosters program is very active and involved. Being a small area there is a lot of parent involvement in the education and extracurricular activities.
—Submitted by a parent

As a proud graduate from Huntington High School Class of 2002, I rate this school very highly on teachers and adminstrators of Cabell County School Board. For example, I have Attention Defict Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and Cabell County School Board has a program called the 504 plan for parents of students in Cabell County with a Learning Disabilites. What the program is about that the teacher can have that one on one with the student with a Learning Disability,to get that little extra help if they have problem with the work that was giving to. It also is an advantage to the parents of student who has a Learning Disability, to get Weekley Overviews on the progress on how their child is doing in class and what plans that the teacher has for the class during the week and beyond the school year. The teachers do care at HHS.
—Submitted by Brittany Cheeks, a former student

Huntington high school offers a quality of education not available in smaller and older schools. It offers not only the basics but also has enough size to offer electives in all subject areas. The opportunity to excel exists there if students and parents dedicate themselves to that goal. With several up-to-date computer labs, a modern library, and technology integration in the classroom, the school certainly offers the opportunity for varied experiences in learning. Standards and expectations are high as they should be. It is a high school. Isn't the goal of school an education? Because the school has a varied population, it offers each student the opportunity to deal with people from many different backgrounds. It has been my experience that parental involvement is minimal and usually is negative rather than positive in nature.
—Submitted by a teacher

I wouldn't recommend this school to anyone. There are too many fights and problems there. My daughter wants to leave this school because she can't take the humanities classes she took at Cabell Midland. I don't think the teachers are very involved with the students. If I were to recommend a school to other parents, it wouldn't be Huntington High.
—Submitted by a parent

As a parent of a Student at Huntington High School, I rate this school very highly. Parents are invited to come and talk to teachers, and are always welcome. The staff are there to answer your questions and help with answers. I would recommend Huntington High School to any Parent. This School is wonderful with academics and well and sports.
—Submitted by Donitta Childers, a parent

As a student at Huntington High School I love it. As far as some of the teachers going through the motions that might be true but so are some of the parents. West Virgina is poor. It affects everyone teachers, parents even students, but HHS doesn't care about that no matter how much the money we(we meaning HHS) don't have affects us. There are oppourtunities at HHS that other schools (not only in West Virginia but also in other states as well)do not have or are not exposed to. At HHS you get it all.
—Submitted by a student

There are some AP programs for accelerated students. Some teachers truly care about their students, but far too many are going through the motions. There is an emphasis on athletics. The band is improving and the chamber choir is quite good but the show choir and theater programs are a shambles. The school is safe (some people assume otherwise because of the presence of minority students). But perhaps because of its size and continuing animosity toward the consolidation with Huntington East several years back, there is very little school spirit.