1710 E Smithson Rd
Monticello, IN 47960

It's aight. As a senior I've spent my time here and can say that it is just alright. Most of the students aren't too bad, with not too much bullying for the most part. This is an Early-College school, so the administration and office pushes heavily toward college credited and ACP courses, which isn't necessarily bad for wanting students to be able to earn college credits by high school (with some being able to earn an Associates degree by graduation), but it definitely causes the workload to be much heavier. The school changed how they decide Valedictorian after a situation a few years ago where a Valedictorian figured out that they could maintain a high GPA by taking electives and study halls as opposed to other students who were taking ACP courses in order to ease their way to top of their class. The school since changed the system to be based on the amount of high school credits earned, hence the push on college credited courses as taking them are your only chance at being top of the class. While it suits what a Val should be (hard-working, academically inclined), it brought in a whole new set of issues that is resulting in them changing the system for Valedictorian again. Additionally, they push for seniors to partake in work-based learning, leaving for half the school day to work a job as part of their pathway. I think it's good for students to be able to develop real-world skills in school at an actual work site but it mainly causes half of the senior class to be absent at any given time. Personally, it makes me feel that senior year is just odd since I'm already living like a graduate half the time. On the other hand, this school has issues. It can not hold new teachers. Many either leave due to unruly students, comments made about them, or because they can not find a teacher to fill the position. Our previous biology teacher left because she had received sexist and rude comments on a daily basis from students, with them stalking her social medias. Our previous gym teacher and football head coach had several reports made about his conduct towards female students and general performance with seemingly no action. As a student of one of his classes, he did the bare minimum to teach and was off-putting if you weren't in his football kid group. It's not superb, but it's better than a lot of other small school options nearby such as North White or Twin Lakes. Also the logo was changed from an original to a Southern Mississippi clone for no reason.

School ISTEP scores have declined significantly in the last several years. Curriculum at this school is weak.