685 Ryan Xing
San Antonio, TX 78223

This school is average maby above average academically... It lacks black students as well as black staff/ teachers.( But hey... Thats everywhere in San Antonio) Being 1 of 3 Black Fathers I saw every morning I felt very disrespected dropping off my children from this school.. Out of all the hispanic parents walking the halls taking their kids to their classrooms with out sign in name tags on. The same Hispanic principle felt the need to badger me about not having one every morning. Leaving him speechless each time he questioned me because I pointed out that countless hispanics passed him with out name tags and he greeted them with good mornings. He stopped messing wit me after he knew i wasn't gone get a name tag and my attitude only got worse each time he question me. Another thing if anyone wanted to drop off class snacks ect.. during school they don't let you go to your childs class regaurdless of the verification you show. You can before the morning bell with a name tag but not at all during school... messed up rules... they act like they don't want you to catch them slipping around your kids.

I am a current senior at Highlands High School and I do NOT recommend this school. As a student at the top of my class who will be attending UCLA as a Gates Scholar, I can say that none of my academic success can be attributed to Highlands High School. Everything I have is because I had to work extremely hard for it. They do not promote academic excellence here. They promote the bare minimum. I received no help applying to my out of state schools because Highlands cares more about sending kids to their partner schools than actually seeing kids excel in tier one universities. They'd rather us go to UTSA so they can say they sent kids to college, but they could care less about retention/graduation rates.There is no school spirit and we have had several weapons on campus, as well as real lock downs. The administration does not promote mental health, good cultural/ethnic relations, and they are never involved in anything. I would like to add - the teachers here at Highlands are WONDERFUL. Highlands has AMAZING teachers, but they are not treated properly by administration, which is why nearly half of our staff is leaving because they want to be treated better, in a school that values academic excellence, school spirit, PROFESSIONALISM, ORDER, and BUREAUCRACY - all of which Highlands does NOT have. Highlands have so much potential, but the administration does not enforce ANYTHING. Just take a look at our attendance and pass rates. They are AWFUL. Students and teachers deserve better. We deserve to feel appreciated. We deserve to have more social activities that promote school spirit, which helps make learning FUN. Students shouldn't have to jump through hoops to host STUDENT LED ACTIVITIES because the administration just doesn't feel like dealing with it. Students should feel safe on campus. We shouldn't have to worry about going to the restroom and having to inhale smoke because administration doesn't know how to enforce the rules. Learning is not fun here. This school doesn't prepare you for college, or life because they continuously lower the standards for the students. I am not the only student OR teacher who feels this way. Highlands needs to do better.

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