5 Ripley Rd
Belmont, MA 02478

I am a class of 2018 BHS grad and I think this school prepared me better for college than the schools most of my current peers went to. The math and science departments are particularly excellent and I don’t think there is a single bad teacher in either one. Most have been there for a long time and know their curriculum and how to keep students engaged very well.In my experience, the major academic downside to this school is the English department. There were some new hires during my time at BHS that were questionable. BHS also assigns a massive senior English thesis project that I thought was a normal thing until I met people who went to other schools and never had to write one. If you want to do it well at an honors level, it takes up a massive amount of time that most students would benefit more from spending on other subjects. I also think a good indicator of the quality of English teachers at BHS is that I had two different teachers who went on maternity leave and both times I learned much more under the sub than I did from the actual teacher.In terms of extracurriculars, there are all of the usuals plus some unusual ones. Rugby was becoming extremely popular for both boys and girls around the time I left, for example.The only other downside when I was there was that the building was incredibly old and had no AC, but that’s been fixed as they completely renovated the building starting the year after I graduated.In general I think BHS is a great school as evidenced by how many students go on to college and how few drop out. It has a culture that encourages high achievement and as a result, most students are encouraged to approach their schoolwork earnestly without the cynicism that leads to missed homework, chronic absences, etc., and even lower-performing students typically work hard.

This school meets basic expectations. It teaches the common core standards with average teaching practices. There is good attention to students with unique needs. It has limited art, music, physical education, and science, and limited library services. It does not offer any foreign language. The after-school activities compliment the basic instruction.

My child had pretty bad experience. Some of their teachers are very rude and disrespectful.