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We are trying to decide what school district we will move into when we move to Charlotte, and Providence High School of course is very highly rated. Reading the Great Schools website, there are a ton of negative reviews from parents about how the school is TOO rigorous.
" if your child is naturally a high academic performer you should be OK, the administration caters to these students. In fact they rely on them to pad their performance reviews. However if your child is an average student looking for a nurturing environment or you are looking for a 'family' oriented experience, this is not the place for you."
" I transferred in my sophomore year and was in the top 10% of my old school. Once I got here I was struggling to maintain B's in my classes. The school only teaches you how to take scantron tests and write and produce a "senior graduation project." Their high "test scores" just come from their training you how to memorize information for a test not understand it or use it. Kids here are the worst and are not friendly at all!"
"The place is straight out of "The Hunger Games." The teachers encourage a cutthroat atmosphere from day one. Students are left to sink or swim in the academic environment with little aid from the staff. Those who are at the top of their class become the "chosen ones" and everyone else is cast away."
"The teachers are awful and do not care about student sucess. THe administators are even worse! The only reason I am giving it one star is beacause I can not give it ZERO!!! They only care about you if you are the top 25 in your class otherwise they consider you dumb."
"I have had children in this school for 6 years. I am so saddened by the culture in this school - which seems designed to take our best and brightest and "wring them out." It is almost as if some of the teachers don't want the students to succeed - they enjoy discouraging and belittling the students"
Many more are just like this.
Now, of course, you will always find some disgruntled people. That is inevitable. But if you read about the same trend over and over, there might be something to it. Looking around at the reviews of some other schools in that immediate area, there are some negative reviews, but they are much less numerous. So are those people reviewing the school bitter for whatever reason, or do they maybe have a point?
"However if your child is an average student looking for a nurturing environment or you are looking for a 'family' oriented experience, this is not the place for you."
Providence aside, I do not think any char meck schools cater to that? lol
Sounds allot like they are preparing kids for the harsh reality of college and the real world.
My high school was what some would call nurturing or family oriented environment. Boy did I get a wake-up call when I walked into a college classroom at a major university and now look back on the college years as the easy times.
I teach at another CMS school and have had students who came from Providence. Yes, it's reputation is in the top 5 in CMS, mostly because the student/family demographics include high-achieving students who have families that support their academic success.
That said, my students who spent time there were unhappy for the reason many of the parents noted -- if you aren't a high-achieving student who can do work on your own, or if you struggle, you will probably have a difficult time. One particular student said teachers were not very helpful if you didn't understand the material.
As always with CMS, beware of boundary lines for schools because they can be shifted at any time.
Sounds allot like they are preparing kids for the harsh reality of college and the real world.
My high school was what some would call nurturing or family oriented environment. Boy did I get a wake-up call when I walked into a college classroom at a major university and now look back on the college years as the easy times.
I recommend not choosing Providence. It is true the school only cares about its ratings and its the only thing the principle talks about in regards to how much of a "great school" it is. The students hate the harshly enforced dress code "no showing shoulders" is an example. They say they are preparing you for college but with the unrealistic expectations the teachers have for their students your children most likely won't get into the college of their dreams because of how harshly providence grades. They only teach to the test so they can brag about how great of a school they are while avoiding HUGE problems in the school such as drugs and the overall negative feedback from the students and their parents. I personally go to providence but if you are looking in the area i recommend Audrey Kell High School. The test grades are slightly lower but the overall student satisfaction is way higher.
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