12575 Cara Cara Loop
Bradenton, FL 34212

We moved from Missouri to Lakewood Ranch 3 years ago, as my daughter was entering sophomore year of high school. We though Lakewood Ranch High School was a good choice, but we were so wrong. Avoid sending your kids here!! My daughter absolutely hated this school. The teachers did not care if she learned or not and were unwilling to help her outside of school hours. The worst part about my daughter's experience at this school was her counselor. My daughter excelled in school with all A's or B's, but had horrible testing anxiety. We discussed this issue with her counselor and asked her what help was available to her. Her counselor advised us not to pursue testing accommodations due to her good grades and passing all of her standardized tests. She said most likely she will not be given any accommodations. My daughter decided to enroll in their dual enrollment/ early college program just so she didn't have to go into the school anymore. That program through SCF was a perfect fit. My daughter was able to fight for herself and what she needed and went directly to the college, bypassing Lakewood Ranch High school, and received testing accommodations for her severe anxiety. This high school, in my opinion and my daughter's, do not care about their students. Their website might look pretty, and they may flash fancy numbers and statistics, but rest assured they do not go above and beyond to support their students and give them the help they need to succeed. Many times, my daughter would reach out to her counselor and would get no reply or very short and rude answers, like she was an inconvenience to them. I would only go to this school if you can get your student into the dual enrollment/early college program, where Lakewood Ranch High School basically pays for your student to get college credit. Otherwise, I would never recommend this school to anyone.

Absolutely appalled today, I witnessed a six year old girl be changed in the cafeteria with her whole class present including boys. Her shirt was off and everything was out. She was asd and having a melt down. There is a bathroom in the cafeteria they could have gotten her too, created a privacy wall, or had the class step out to give her some dignity but no. In addition, the cafeteria people and teachers have no clue about food allergies, if your kid has a food allergy please send food to school with them or make a very detailed accounting of what your child can and cant eat. Teachers say cheese pizza is baked in dairy when its not, its considered melted cheese and not safe for kids who are on the baked goods step of overcoming their food allergy or intolerance.