Palo Alto High School

Our child had an amazing experience at Paly. Teachers were great with some teachers being transformational. Great extra curriculars (for example some of the top student publications in the nation). At times kids may feel overscheduled between academics, extra curriculars and social but the tradeoff is they grow tremendously in all dimensions. Paly prepares the kids extremely well for the top colleges and I personally consider it a better option than the local private schools. While your kid might enjoy smaller classes at private high schools, the kids at Paly are better socially adjusted and do equally well (if not better) on college admissions, especially considering your not competing directly with some private school parents who are not trying to buy their kids admission into a top school. Kids who go through the AP and Honors track at Paly will work hard but become well prepared and will do well upon arrival at any of the top US colleges (including the Ivies, which many kids go to). Lots of kids also end up at Berkeley and UCLA after graduating. If your kid is very STEM/Robotics oriented then Gunn High School is slightly better and MIT accepts more kids each year from Gunn than Paly. Paly also has a good relationship with the top community college in the state, Foothill where kids can take classes during high school and some kids go onto afterwards. Note, Foothill is also a feeder for its graduates to the UC schools, where Foothill graduates do very well.

Traumatic and the worst decision our family ever made. The reputation is from years ago with different administrators. Right now they have a revolving door and they can't hire quality people because of the politics.

The best high school experience possible hands down

School is well funded and continues to improve its facilities. The pressure to perform academically can be significant and needs to be managed. Paly is still a great place to learn discipline and a good work ethic...