14 Highland Park
Newton, MA 02460

Arts program, especially chorus and theater, were exceptional. Academics were good. Administration needs to get better.

There were some great things about this school. Some of the teachers were phenomenal. Others were terrible. 5th grade teachers are the worst. One of these was my child's teacher and when I reported some extreme bullying (7 things were happening to my child on a daily basis), he sat my child down WITH his bully and asked him to confront his bully and tell him what he had done to him. When my child was too scared to say anything, he then turned to the bully and told him that he knew that he had not done anything to my child. He then took him off a project with that bully and told my son he had to do it all on his own. This led to the bully feeling empowered and he rounded up all of his other friends to bully him as well, which led into the summer, causing all kinds of emotional turmoil for my son. Those 5th grade teachers all rallied together because they thought my son was "lazy," but we found out the next fall that my son is high functioning autism and gifted (twice exceptional) and that was causing his struggles. He was thriving in a gifted class in a different district before coming to Cabot and is now thriving in a different district in all AP and honors classes. Shame on you, Cabot! In addition, I was a special education liaison for this school and heard many stories from parents about their struggles here. If you have a special education child, stay away from this district. Also, our daughter who is neurotypical and very social, had a really great couple of years here until the pandemic. Then she was thrown into an online school that had NONE of the Cabot administration, teachers, or students! She was completely outed from this school in her graduation year and they handled it horribly. She lost all of her friends because they provided zero connection to the school and she went from being a well-adjusted, very bubbly and happy girl, to depressed and anxious. I was a proactive parent and reached out to the psychologist and the administration, who offered no help. The "principal" for this online school was a math teacher with no experience and who had no concern for children. She and the rest of the "administration" patted their backs often, but did a terrible job. My daughter is now thriving in another district and has regained her self-esteem and has many friends. Shame on you, Cabot!Some great things? Lower grade teachers and the PTA rocks. The Newton SEPAC is incredibly helpful. There's a lot of money in this school and a brand new building.

Overall, my child had a good experience at NNHS and was prepared very well for the rigors of college in STEM. Socially, there's lots of activities available as one would expect with 2k+ student body and state-of-the-art facilities but bullying and drugs are disturbingly prevalent. The principal is an extreme social justice activist that uses his position to indoctrinate students with his personal beliefs and views.