Westwood High School

All three of my kids graduated from Westwood. They came from a private school background and all of them have thanked us for moving across town so they could experience a diverse, challenging, and large high school environment with many options for extracurriculars. My daughter participated in dance, acted and stage managed for theater productions, and learned “how to learn” especially from her challenging AP courses in English and history. She refused to quit APUSH despite her low grades, eventually pulled it up and credits that class with preparing her to study independently in college. My second son did IB and orchestra and like his sister, used his fine arts as an outlet to de-stress from his studies. I didn’t push him (much) because I knew his IB teachers and peers were doing that job for me. My third child was in IB til sophomore year, when he got a terrible case of Mono he had to switch to AP due to a month missed of school. The guidance for all three kids was kind, responsive and helpful. I appreciated that the guidance counselors (who have to take care of waaay too many kids) did not let them drop down to an easier class at the first sign of distress, but DID respond and make that change when the student had demonstrated the need to do so. They even scheduled ballet immediately after my daughter’s math class for stress management. None of my 3 three made it into top ten percent but with their excellent SAT scores they earned full or partial scholarships, which saved us many thousands in college tuition. This is to the credit of Westwood in general because had they been in an easier school, trust me, they would have slacked off. When I did my research on high schools, I looked at PSAT scores and national merit finalists across Austin. I knew I had at least two potential NMF kids and wanted them to be PUSHED so they could snag free tuition if possible. At that time, Westwood averaged about 40 NMF per school year compared to 1-2 per year at surrounding schools. These days, I believe the number is more like 60-70 per year. Yes, kids in this district study more—typically they go to Berkeley 2 Academy over the summer to “pre study” for their upcoming AP or IB classes. This is an option for those with finances for it, but I want to state that it is not necessary for students of average intelligence to get A’s. If your student struggles with stressful academics, talk to the counselors. They will work with you, I promise.

I am sure Westwood is great for those students in the AP and IB programs, but if your child goes here and needs accommdations for SPED, they are screwed! This school cares zero about SPED students! The Principal and administrative staff are rude and dismissive of the students' needs so they can be productive and not feel like a failure all of the time.

The quality at Westwood dropped drastically even before Covid. Keep your student away from a math teacher by the name of Jennifer Howitt. She doesn’t care about students who actually need her help learning complicated math. She ignores emails, won’t even let us know where we can study in the textbook to prepare for learning later in her class. She’s also a very dishonest person, having talked to her myself, and hearing all the half truths about why she doesn’t have time to grade tests herself, making students grade their own tests, and never giving their test back in order for them to learn from their mistakes and move forward onto new lessons. Completely lazy, all at the students expense.I waited till after my student graduated to write this review, fearing negative consequences if I did this years ago.Tried to get my student out from her class as soon as I realized how bad it was, and they wouldn’t let us out, citing some unbendable rules they had to follow. I asked to escalate this to the principal, and wasn’t even allowed to speak to them at all, completely sidelined.

Westwood is really great for a small portion of students who can get private tutors. The rest...My eldest was a straight A student out of Jr. high and had already completed some high school credits. She did okay her freshman year but started getting very stressed out. It went downhill from her sophomore year and she ended up basically failing lots of classes, ruining her GPA and all her confidence. The teachers weren't really helpful for office hours, it was challenging to find source material to study, and all around was overwhelming. She's now finishing credits at Success and thriving there. When looking into colleges, I realized that since all Texas schools make admission decisions on top 10%/25% of class, Westwood puts kids at a disadvantage anyway.My youngest is now struggling and I'm considering moving her as she's always had a harder time with school and Westwood clearly has no ability to support such students.

My 2 children went to Westwood and had a generally good experience. Academics are tough but if you're on the college track this is rewarded then. Team and club activities are plentiful and a rewarding addition to the book work. Competition is high and if you expect to be in the top 10% without taking mostly AP or IB classes then think again. Some are disappointed by this and others think it impacts your ability to get into TX colleges, I don't know howuch truth there is to this. UT admissions for Austin are extremely competitive so just be realistic about what that takes.Overall the school was a great experience and a good preparation for the next step for college bound kids.