70 Waverley Oaks
Palo Alto, CA 94301

Walter Hays is a fantastic school that offers a lot of opportunities to all students. Our child is in Special Education and we feel that her progress is remarkable. Additional Parent organized activities (Makerspace for sewing, sawing and art work, Ice Skating, etc.) make it fun for the families to join in. It is great to be part of this professional and friendly organization!

Many of the older reviews are extremely outdated. The students are very welcoming to new students, most of the teachers are willing to help and answer questions in class or outside of class time, and the school provides extensive student rights, as can be seen by their journalism program, which is one of the best in the country. Although there are students that take drugs, they are few and they all belong to the same groups, and typically don't interact much with others. I personally do not have much interaction with special education, but I am aware that the students in special education are looked after, and sometimes the department even provides dances just for them, though rarely. There is also known there are many students who feel academically pressured, as it is an extremely competitive school, but the school provides help, and most of the time the problem originates from home and parents. All in all, the environment is safe for everyone as long as they do not make unsafe decisions, the teachers are great and welcoming, and the school does address its problems.

There were nice experiences with some teachers and these teachers get burned out. But overall, not a good education if you need help from teachers and you end up in real trouble for high school. It's very easy to fall behind in a few weeks and you will not catch up all year.