525 Dix Cir
Colorado Springs, CO 80911

I've had two children at Venetucci for the last 2.5 years and we will be leaving this school this year, and possibly this district. The number of teachers who have left or quit during the middle of the year is unacceptable. Classrooms are regularly being reassigned and students move as new teachers come and go. There is zero communication or transparency from the administration at this building. If you need to contact anybody in the school or district, locating contact information of any kind is near impossible. If you are able to contact someone, do not hold your breathe for a timely response. There are maybe 3-4 good, solid teachers that actually enjoy their job and care about the students at this school. Everyone else is a new hire who will be gone during or after this school year. Support from staff for your student is only available if you have an IEP or 504 plan. If your child is without those, but still struggling, too bad, so sad for you. This school has dramatically gone downhill in the last 2.5 years that we've attended and I think it is directly related to the poor leadership and administration that has been appointed to this building. Widefield School District 3, do better for your students.

Can’t recommend this school. Kids don’t feel safe there and their security is a joke. After school fights and bullying is very common. Stay away from if you want a good education.

Now, let me be clear, there are far worse high schools out there than Widefield High. But, having graduated from it last year, I very much get the sense that somewhere around 80% of the budget is put into sports. Most of the other departments, except perhaps the music department, appear to operate on a shoestring. This includes building maintenance, as many of the school's hallways and rooms appear as if they haven't been renovated in a long time. The school was built in 1958, after all. There was seemingly a socioeconomic divide between those who lived out east (in nicer neighborhoods) and those who lived closer to Widefield proper; with those living out east tending to have nicer clothes, accessories, and cars. There were almost certainly a number of fights and a fair amount of bullying going on, but I can't speak for certain because I was quite the social shut-in during my time there. Despite being in at least one Honors/AP class for most of my four years, I never really felt like I was getting a good education, either. I didn't personally think the curriculum in most classes was that challenging intellectually, though my grades sometimes tended to suffer anyways from poor executive function (arguably one could say that's a me problem). Much of what I know intellectually came from things I learned on my own time from my own research. The staff/teachers could be described as a mixed bag. Some were outright cruel; while others were very nice and supportive, even when I was letting my inner demons control me, academically speaking. Others could be pretty apathetic either way. There were almost certainly some that were there just for the paycheck, I'm sure. So, on the whole, probably just a pretty 'average' high school. I don't think I would settle for 'average' if I had the option to choose something better, obviously. But, well, living firmly in the middle of Widefield the community, I really didn't, and neither did many of my other pupils. There *are* other high schools in D3, obviously, but most of them are going to be of roughly the same quality as this Widefield, even if they're in a different district. When I was on the school robotics team, the first year we got to go to a much nicer school in Denver for the competition, and I was almost blown away by what even a public high school could be for those with means. But not everyone has access to such schools. I certainly didn't, and I can't really blame the school itself for that.