Beaver Dam High School

I was a previous student of BDHS back in the early to mid 90's. Back then, the school was really good. Like any high school the athletes and the superior academic students got special treatment from faculty, but the "average" students were average to strong academically. BDHS has gotten a lot of bad press lately and the test scores have fallen and seem to be heading down toward Milwaukee Public school levels. As a current parent, I may end up moving out the district to send my children to a better school district if it doesn't improve in the near future. The economic climate in Beaver Dam has changed remarkably since the early 1990s. It seems a large, and growing, percentage of the Beaver Dam population is living below or near the poverty line which I'm sure is affecting the test scores of the students. This is exactly what happened with Milwaukee. As the poverty levels increased the schools became worse. Only time will tell with BDHS.

Having been out of High school for a few years I have come to the realization the BDHS grants it's students an excellent education. I tend to get very upset when students attending UW-Madison with me do not understand concepts that we were expected to know by sophomore year. Not only the depth of knowledge, but the broad range given across the entire board has made life much easier, wether it be in college, the professional world, or just social interaction. BDHS is a great school, but students don't know it until they're out in the real world!

I think in general the school gets done what it sets forth to do, which is educate. There are, as with any school, places that need improvement, but I think the school overall is a decent place to learn. I think the biggest downfall is some of the guidance counselors. Mine in particular doesnt seem to want to listen what I have to say and tries to point me in a direction she feels is right, rather than what I know is right. As far as teachers, they do a good enough job. Some of them have ways of teaching some may not enjoy, but others are great. There is a good variety of both in and out of school activities and organizations as well. The administration is rather mediocre. Some of their policies are rather dumb, to say the least.
--Submitted by a parent