American High School

I’m a freshman I have to wait for a little longer as of now it’s okk

I am a current student at American and I have never been more depressed in my life. With recent staff changes the school is completely oblivious to any stress or mental health-related issues. They solely care about scores and the image of the school rather than the have proper concern for their students. Rather than fostering an environment where students can learn and grow, I have been constantly put down. Every meeting with a counselor has resulted in me being quickly dismissed without any effort to solve or even subdue the problem. Staff members have bragged about punishing students and never put mental health into consideration. The school does not care or have ANY genuine compassion for the students whatsoever. Most of the staff treats it as a business, solely doing their job for themselves, not wanting to go out of there way to assist students whatsoever. The only source of genuine compassion and concern is of the teachers. I have seen over 10 of my friends leave school this year and transfer to other programs due to sheer depression. If you have a smart child and you do not care about their mental health or friends, send them to American. However, if it is your first priority to have your child grow in a healthy environment and have a happy high school experience, any other school in the district will be an improvement. I am not speaking on behalf of myself, as a large representation of the student population feels the same way.

Our son is a Freshman here. Our friends/neighbors kids who graduated out this year from American High enjoyed studying here without the crazy cut throat competition at Mission San Jose. This years placements were Harvard, MIT, Caltech, UPenn, Stanford, Urbana Champaign just among the kids we know. Apparently more kids made it to UC Berkeley from American High this year than Mission is what we are hearing! The school/neighborhood is way underrated compared to Mission SanJose. Our street Shattuck Ave has 3 UPenn MBA, 1 Harvard grad and the neighborhood is flooded with highly educated parents who emphasize education and yet the environment at American is very balanced .

So far, I am really enjoying my time at this school. Some teachers are challenging, but in the end, you will really learn a great deal from them. Others however, are just completely unreasonable and don't teach at all, but still expect their students to score good grades on their tests. Honors classes here are really rigorous, but CP classes are incredibly easy, but you will learn nothing from them. How well you do really just depends on which teacher you get. The students are generally nice & willing to help each other out. There ASB is really good & has a lot of activities - our school truly feels like a family. The sports programs are slightly above average, depending on the team. A good school to be at, no peer pressure to dress a certain way or anything. Only thing that is truly awful about American is that admin is HORRIFIC!!!!