Foundry St
Pittsburgh, PA 15215

I was a FORMER student of SAHS, and a current drop out. I think that alone tells you everything you need to know about the school, but I'll keep going. Never once did I feel accommodated or cared for as a student here. I spent a lot of my school days in the guidance counselor (I have extreme mental health issues that I still struggle with as a 20 year old, probably partially due to the school's guidance counselor only comparing me to her son, blatantly saying he's better than me because she "would never let him struggle with this stuff" which clearly didn't help, and made me feel worse as an anxiety-ridden 14 year old who JUST needed help.) Not only this but I was getting bullied in a class, asked to switch classes, and was told "We can't do anything unless the bullying is physical." Shaler Area High School does not care about bullying unless it warrants a black eye or a bloody nose. Do you understand that? Is that where you REALLY wanna send your kid? You tell me.Not only did I deal with all of this, but on top of it, I was struggling with my grades. Not only because of my mental health and the lack of regard for it, but because the teachers were just.... not very much help either. Between only showing presentation slides or videos and just making us copy the words down and them not bothering to explain anything, or math teachers getting annoyed at you for writing notes in class despite that being what's asked of you. It's genuinely jarring to me that even one student has ever graduated this school, let alone graduated and got accepted into a college. Even a community college. This place doesn't set you up for the real world even in the slightest. I wouldn't recommend this school to anybody unless they did something to severely hurt me and I was trying to get revenge on them. You can't win in SAHS, and the staff doesn't bother to fix that, so don't go. It's that simple.

Teachers are amazing here. They seem to enjoy their jobs and the kids and go above and beyond to make learning fun. The counselor is a gem. Mental health and wellness is a priority; I’m so impressed with how invested she is in the kids. The principal is hands on and shows up at every event. He runs a well oiled machine. Such a high quality educational environment. We couldn’t be happier with the experience for our children. I have friends who work in the school who confirm it is a lovely environment for everyone

This school is pretty average for an Elementary School. The design of the school is well, the playground, fields, classrooms, and such.the teachers and staff give average learning opportunities and strategies. However; The learning style could be updated more. They sometimes offer events that can get students and others involved, and using fun-ways to encourage students to try extracurricular activities. The problem is the counseling, there is an issue with students being treated bad and the school not doing much about it. Saying “That’s not nice” wont stop elementary schoolers. Peoples parents/guardians also need to get their children more involved and making sure their child isnt inflicting bullying on others. Although this is a problem in most united states schools, but there should definitely be more lockdown drills and updated procedures in the case of emergency. There is occasionally a security officer around the building and a nice front office.