Hawkins Is
St Augustine, FL 32080

Everyone is so helpful. This is are second year love this school

Visited the ELA teacher and assistant principal after my 7th grade son was given a poem to study " Strong women" . I asked what the poem in fact meant and asked for an explanation only to be told by the assistant principal she was not going to discuss and she appeared agitated by raising my question. Needless to say my son will not be returning to this type of administration who clearly refuse to be accountable to a parent with concerns.

I am a student, who is on track to graduate in May with 50 total credits between high school and college. I did not enjoy my time here at all. From my experience(and others), Matanzas High functions more like a basic education facility that is geographically isolated from my city, rather than a school that supports emerging adults like a real high school. The environment is heavily divided between the standard classes and advanced programs (AICE and a few AP classes), with very little actual integration or community between them. The environment often drains me for no reason. The leadership follows an "adult-first" model. Decisions are made based on administrative convenience. They lean heavily on favoritism toward certain families and students(mainly those in the Student Government Association) who give them money, rather than what is best for all of us. Discipline is awful since they often don't hold bullies accountable for their actions. Only a few teachers here actually care for their students, or have presence in the broader community of Palm Coast outside Matanzas. For serious musicians, like myself, the band program has become a low-quality operation focused more on using students for local gigs or concerts/MPA than on actual musical education or professional growth. They do not respect the legacy of successful alumni, and they often ignore individual needs—including medical safety requirements in favor of their own schedules.Even if you encounter great teachers who want to help you learn (primarily in AICE), it is not an institution that treats you like an adult. They often ignore seniors. Ultimately, I had to prepare myself for the real world through my job at Publix and the way my family raised me; the school provided almost no support for that transition. If you are a high-achieving student, Matanzas is just a place to get your credits and leave where you never look back.