Aviation High School

Stop unnessarily dresscoding students if you want everyone to look "professional". It isn't even professional when other students dress the same as the person you dresscoded. It's giving favoritism and singling students out. Speaking of not being professional, it's also not professional when you don't even care about your students' clubs by defunding them and hiring low quality teachers for their education. I agree with the reviews calling out the principal. The administration needs to change.

Although I once thought that this school was top tier, I no longer think that since the arrival of the newest principal in 2016. She has no interest in getting to know the students or the community. She makes volunteers and mentors feel unwelcome and unneeded.

As an alum, it took me a while to realize how problematic this school really is. I graduated in the top of my class. I took various AP classes, took far too many extracurricular activities, spent more time at school than at home. I don't exactly know whether teachers liked me or not, I just did whatever possible to succeed. I will say that despite promoting "good academics" and providing numerous opportunities to me, the school didn't allow me to explore unconventional fields in STEM and healthcare. I know they give this lecture about "having to know you have passion for aviation before applying," but lets be realistic: no thirteen-year-old knows exactly what they want to do for a career. While it's ultimately my own fault, I spent more time trying to convince myself that I'd be fine studying engineering than I spent actually trying to figure out what would make me happy. I don't think people take this seriously enough, but doing what makes you happy is the most important! This school had some really great teachers, some really bad ones too. Like any other public school or college, really. Do I think this school gave me a better foundation for college than other schools? No. The HS you attend is definitely not the be-all, end-all of your education and career. In fact, it's trivial and insignificant. If you're truly passionate and a good student, you'll succeed from anywhere. Now, the problematic part. I understand parents want their kids to succeed. I understand kids want to feel exclusive and go to school with "like-minded" people. I understand people feel like they can't get these opportunities anywhere else. But the backlash about the lottery system, the entitlement, the lack of diversity... ew. This school was founded for some reasons along the lines of providing STEM opportunities and a STEM-focused education to HS students who are truly passionate. I'd imagine this has something to do with changing the population in STEM? With a population of 65% male (middle to upper class too) Caucasian students, I don't think RAHS is making any significant impact on diversity in STEM. And it's actually a huge problem. I'm inspired by a speech I listened to from an EE professor in college: having this huge white male population in STEM is detrimental, it limits thinking and control to... white, middle to upper class males!

As the parent of a student who was in the second graduating class, I cannot heap enough accolades on Aviation High School. Also as a businessman, I would hire many of the graduates from AHS before most college graduates. Being taught personal accountability coupled with project based learning gives these students almost an unfair head start on their peers. And my son had many outside activities (Garfield HS Jazz Band, sports etc.) and with the time management skills taught at AHS, he thrived in every situation. Is every school perfect? Of course not, but this one is as close to perfection as any I've seen.

As the parent of a sophomore at Raisbeck Aviation High School, I can say like most schools Aviation has its strengths and weaknesses. Most teachers are excellent and inspiring, but several have been disappointing and more a lesson in perseverance than the content area they are supposedly teaching. The clubs like Science Olympiad and Robotics are wonderful, but participating in normal high school sports is challenging because of the schedule and distance athletes must commute to get to their "default home school". On several occasions, my child has been faced with the difficult choice between skipping class or disappointing a coach and teammates. For those not athletically inclined, even getting P.E. credits is rather involved and requires a fair amount of parent support. The arts are similar. Only two classes are offered and not always available schedule-wise. Despite these shortcomings and the considerable homework load, my student enjoys the serious attitude that most of his classmates have and the focus on aviation.