7935 Hampton Lake Dr
Tampa, FL 33647

As a parent, my experience with my Wharton high school over the last two years has been extremely disappointing and emotionally exhausting. Despite repeated requests for assistance, meetings, emails, and ongoing concerns regarding academic performance, behavior, and documented disabilities, I have consistently felt unheard and unsupported.My son currently has only a fraction of the credits needed to stay on track academically, yet most communication from the school only occurs after situations have already escalated into disciplinary matters. There appears to be far more focus on punishment than prevention, intervention, or meaningful support.Communication has been one of the biggest issues. Important matters involving attendance, referrals, suspensions, and behavioral concerns are often communicated late—or not at all—until consequences have already been decided. As a parent attempting to work collaboratively with the school, it is incredibly frustrating to constantly feel reactive instead of included in the process early enough to help.I also believe there is a major disconnect in how students with ADHD, Autism, emotional regulation difficulties, and 504 accommodations are being supported in practice. While accommodations may exist on paper, consistency and implementation have been another story entirely.What has been most concerning is watching situations continue to escalate instead of improve. Rather than seeing proactive behavioral support, accountability plans, or academic recovery strategies, many situations have resulted in referrals, suspensions, transportation consequences, and even law enforcement involvement.I understand schools have difficult jobs and limited resources, and I fully believe students must be held accountable for their actions. However, accountability without effective support simply becomes a cycle. Families should not have to fight this hard just to feel informed, included, and supported.My hope is that the district takes a deeper look at how struggling students and overwhelmed families are being supported before more children fall through the cracks.

Students at this school are not safe. Teachers and administrators put their hands on children and verbally abuse them. When mistreatment is reported, administrators do nothing because they protect the teachers instead of the students.If you care about your child’s mental health, do not send your child to this school. I don’t care how many fake or made-up reviews they post or how often they brag about being an “A” school. This is one of the worst public schools my child has ever attended.It’s probably also why they removed the Google reviews section so parents can’t see what’s really going on here.