Hayden High School

I graduated from Hayden High School in 1976. It's a MUCH better school now than it was then, in all regards. Period. I'm also a college graduate and former teacher myself, so I know something about teaching in public schools. And no, I never taught at Hayden High School, so I'm not blindly taking up for this school. I know several people who work at HHS and I live in the area, so I'm familiar with the school. Of course, improvements can be made in many areas (as with 99% of schools), but Hayden High's overall efficacy is much more positive than negative. As previously stated, MUCH improvement has been made over the years and the vast majority of former students are proud of that progress.

The school sums up the concept of complacency and mediocrity. I graduated in 2013, and I never, not even once, studied for any of the exams. I came out with straight A's each and every semester in the honors program.I was woefully unprepared for college courses. There was a sizable gap in knowledge I had to fill in during my first year as a freshman. Several of my courses, like physics, were so simple and dumbed down that you couldn't call it an acceptable credit for the course in the slightest.Lunchroom food was bland and tasteless on most days. My teachers never truly invested themselves with the students. In essence, you just coasted to graduation, where you would get your diploma and sit and stay in Hayden for the rest of your life.If you want an easy graduation, come here. If you want a school that uses your time productively, go anywhere else. This place was the largest waste of time in my life.

I attended Hayden High School from 7th grade up until the middle of 11th grade. I left to pursue a home-school education. During the years I attended this school, I encountered many disturbing things that children of that age group should not be exposed to. The teacher's idea of teaching was making the children do all the work and read from the book. They should not be called teachers, as they did not make an effort to actually teach. I have moved out of the state, as my children will never attend the Alabama School District, I am highly unsatisfied with my experiences from the Blount County School District. If you want your child to learn and grown their minds, please find another school.

This school does not have many elective choices for the kids. Some of the older teachers need to be let go with there can careless attitude. Kids don't have much homework assigned. Foreign language classes are a computer lab with a teacher(babysitter), no verbal communication. This school does not offer much guidance to the achieve high learning after graduation. The school offers less advanced classes each year for the excelling student. Graduating teens are not well prepared for college. When we first moved here, it was a great school. As the years progress, so has the school system.

The school is okay but not the best if your child has college aspirations. They do very little to steer students on the college path. One of my daughters was taking advanced math so she would be able to take calculus as a senior, but the school decided not to continue calculus since the students did so poorly in it. That doesn't sound like the right solution... how about improving your lower math classes to better prep the students? Or at least set up a dual enrollment program so excelling students can take advanced courses at a local college while still in high school. There are few extracurricular activities aside from those centered around the football team. I'm not sure this is a very good school for college bound kids.