Vandercar Way
Cincinnati, OH 45209

I have been attending this school for 5 years and since I have been here, the school has made a lot of improvements. The band especially. Our extra curricular activities are very family-like and make it much easier to find friends and teachers to get along with. Teachers are very open and friendly, making it easier to study and work with them. They are also willing to make adjustments based on the overall participation and interest of the students. We have programs such as Dater Cares which allows students to volunteer and help their community. I think that the school may be hard to warm up to at first but once you become familiar with the environment, it can be a great experience as long as you put forth the effort and determination.

Even though it advertises itself as "college prep," students are not given the same level of independence as actual college students. They have to be scheduled for something every bell, they have to be on time to every class, and they have to be at school every day, as opposed to in college where as long as you complete the assignments, you can skip class, and you can schedule as many or as few classes as you want per semester.Because it's a public school, we had to eat public school food. Even though there are lot of private donations, they don't extend to hiring restaurant-quality staff for the cafeteria.There's not much personalization you can do for your education. You have to take the classes that the State of Ohio requires you to take, and the classes that WHHS requires you to take. You can't really "major" in anything while you're in high school.While it was a letdown for me, it might be something that others liked, as far as how regular of a high school it is once you get past the entrance test. I didn't go to WHHS to take gym, but you're required to take it to graduate, and one of the worst teachers I had when I was there was one of my gym teachers. The other kids there cared too much about the same stuff that regular high school kids care about, like clothes and sports, that have nothing to do with being smart.Despite the fact that we excel on standardized tests and high graduation rates, most students do not have distinguished academic careers. You can graduate from there without ever making honor roll or taking any AP classes, and most graduates just go to one the local schools (UC, Xavier, Ohio State, etc.). It's not like we all go to Harvard or Yale.The one bright spot was the arts, although even there, the worst classmate I had was a fellow marching band member. But the arts programs are on par with SCPA, if you're someone who's trying to decide between those two schools.If you can't afford private school, or to move to the suburbs, regardless of all the negative stuff I wrote, you want your kid in WHHS, with the exceptions being if your child wants to go to Montessori, SPCA, or is able to get into Spencer Center. That school didn't exist when I was in high school, or else I would have gone there.

In my 4 years at Western Hills University High School (9-12), the experience was horrible. I've never experienced a school as bad as this. The students are wild, and the staff make no effort of trying to change them. I do not take pride in the fact that I attended and graduated from this school.

I like the school but it’s nothing special but I still recommend.

Consider a private school if it all possible. This school is in a steady and serious decline as indicated by the various metrics found here. The school is more interested in uber left, woke culture indoctrination than it is in education. Walnut (maybe) or private school is your only hope in Cincinnati.

School with a focus on career technical education and allows students to earn credentials toward employment.

As former staff I really enjoyed the Aiken community. They have lots of programs to engage the students and meet them where they are.

Needs new leadership. Unprofessional attitude coming from the top.

At Hughes stem high school, All the kids are extremely depressed at this school. Half of the teachers do not care about the students. They don't even really teach they just give them something and expect them to know it. I really do not feel like my kid is learning or achieving anything in this school. The principal accepted to many kids and now some of the other kids cannot go to the pathway they wanted to go too. The yonder pouches are outrageous. I need to contact my kid sometimes and I cannot contact them because of the pouches, and I do not want the office to know my personal information. A lot of the kids steal, and someone stole my kids Bus card, Headphones, and Binder. My kid told me that they are even banned from the target because they stole over 10k worth of stuff. The school is dirty it has roaches and rats, I see dirt and dust everywhere, I feel as if my child is not safe here.

Honestly, this school was good and bad. Mostly bad. I’d choose another school; and heres why. First, yes i went to this school. Some teachers were nice and some were really rude. Lots played favorites, and some sexist. Overall a bad school. The classrooms were atleast nice. The pictures shown in the current photos are not up to date. The school has upgraded alot.