John F. Kennedy High School

This school has been the 2nd choice for years as parents have tried to get their kids into highly ranked Granada Charter, but more parents and students are choosing JFK as GHCHS gets more and more crowded. At Kennedy, kids have a greater chance to stand out and make a difference. My older daughter went to Granada, was an awesome student, but was lost in the MASSIVE shuffle. My younger child got opportunities to excel and be recognized, and Dr. Chavez sets a great tone for campus culture.

Great school, helps all students no favoritism in any area. Most graduates continued their education at colleges and universities across the country.

This school has come a long way over the years! All the students are applying for college and the school has a lot to offer

Most teachers are highly experienced in teaching and in their fields (many have masters and several have doctorates in their respective fields of English, Education, Science, Math, etc.), but as typical of large schools, they have to deal with students of all walks of life, which means they work with advanced students as well as many who might have troubles at home and lower academic performance. All around, teachers do an amazing job at having to teach all different levels of students. Lower performing students get much attention from the dean with student success teams that follow their progress throughout the year. The success teams are made up of teachers, counselors, and, when necessary, a psychologist. As a teacher with over fifteen years of experience (at schools in two different states), I have never felt, more than I do here, the kind of warmth, acceptance, and sense of responsibility that teachers try to give to their students at this school. Teachers here believe in rigor as well as making learning fun -- they truly care about raising achievement as well understanding the student as a person -- and this concern about both the rigor and the fun in learning has been a welcome change from past teaching situations I have encountered. So many schools care so much about achievement that they fail to teach students how to love learning, while other schools teach them to love to learn, and don't do enough focused and targeted work to increase student performance. Balance, in my opinion, is key.