233 Hamilton Ave
Menlo Park, CA 94025

M-A is an impressive place, especially given the extreme socioeconomic diversity and varying high school readiness of its student body. The curriculum provides for courses ranging from remedial to AP and beyond. There are extensive resources for academic help (ranging from office hours to after school help to peer tutoring), a huge number of clubs and extracurricular activities, highly competitive athletics, nationally-ranked debate, award-winning orchestra and jazz bands, the list goes on. Students are given opportunities to participate and excel regardless of family financial situation. And this is borne out in the college outcomes - the majority enter college, and many go to Ivies, Stanford, MIT and top UCs. Most importantly, I have found that the teachers work hard and really care about their students - not just their academic outcomes but their entire well-being. During the pandemic, many teachers went well above and beyond to ensure that their students' mental and physical health was secure. It is a hard thing to measure, but, as a parent, heartwarming to see in action.

I went to this school when I was younger. during the 2000s I was put in a higher grade level than what I was supposed to be in. I got bullied a lot, and the classes were fast-paced. There was not a lot of practice or communication with parents about academics. The school did not have any programs to connect with students about their needs. The teachers did not get paid much, but some of them tried their best. However, more often than not, there was no connection between the students and their families or goals. Other than that, it was the same as any other school, but minor changes could have helped and improved performance. “The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.” - Socrates, Cratylus