Jim Thorpe Area Senior High School

I stayed in this school district less than 6 months and moved because of the school district.They have a horrible system in place for children with an IEP. The school is very militant and not very warm.

Guidance does not schedule you in classes that are graduation requirements the first time around. If you want a good class you must actually know or be relatives or friends with them. The dress code applies only to normal kids does not apply to athletes or favorite students. The lunches are not fresh it's all canned goods. 5 year old text books but every student gets a iPad and laptop but we can't afford art and music classes or textbooks and supplies. Everything is about money and only money. You have to lay every year your in high school $10 or you can't do extra curriculars or sports or dances or anything. The teachers bully students and don't actually teach they hand out coron pages and or laptops and say do whatever. Your grade depends on if you know and are friends with the teacher. The kids bully constantly and are not punished unless it's seen by teachers or principles. Only three actual electives the rest are classes you already took being offered again. I'm a senior here and am miserable if you have a IEP or GiEP our called a sped by teachers and it's been a horrid high school career for me and it's all around a bad school. Don't send your kid here I wish I did not have to attend I'm lucky it's my last year ever.

As someone who attended the Jim Thorpe Area School District since I moved here in grade 4, I have to say that through the years, this district has been slowly deteriorating and it's very sad to see. My very first year in the high school (2008-2009) was fantastic. I truly enjoyed going to school every day and was excited for my next 3 years at JTHS. However, by the middle of 10th grade, things began going downhill fast. A pathetically strict dress code was put in place, activity periods and study halls were taken away, the activity bus that made participating in after school activites possible for kids who lived up the mountain impossible, the teachers obviously began to get sick of all the focus being on standardizing tests rather than actually teaching their students, and because of this, they stopped even trying to care about their jobs. By the 11th grade, I had made the decision to drop out (I was 1 of more than 50 in my class to make this decision) and get my GED rather than stay somewhere where I was not getting a proper education, and it's sad to say that this was one of the best decisions I have ever made. My advice: keep your children as far away from JTHS as you can.

I graduated from here last year, and I gotta say, it's sad to what's been happening. Within the four years I was there, the school really started to deteriorate. My main problem is that there is too heavy of a focus on the sports. When it comes to extracurricular activities, the focus should be on things like the math team or Scholastic Scrimmage team (quizbowl team), just any sort of academic group. This goes for all schools, but at JT , it's pretty severe how little they care about these activities. Secondly, the guidance counselor is terrible. I can't speak for the freshman guidance counselor, but the main counselor is awful. When you enter her office, you feel unwelcome. She is completely useless when it comes to college. Which really hurts students that are first-gen. college students. My last complaint is the math department. It's truly the worst department at JT. The one calc teacher admitted to not understanding the subject. However, there are some good teachers, like the ones that teach: Civil War, physics, and advanced bio. The gifted counselor is also great. There are a few more, but most other teachers are mediocre. What's sad is it's one of the best in the area...