Bellaire High School VS Clements High School

[zhugeliang1]

How far is Bellaire High School from Rice University in terms of commute by car? by metro bus?

[EEstudent]

Originally Posted by HornedFrog

Wow these people do not know what they are talking about. Anyone can take AP classes at Clements - you just sign up for them. Quite a scam really considering it defeats the whole purpose of GT and basically just creates a bunch of AP classes that are being pulled down by slow students reaching well beyond their academic means.

Most students that cant understand the material usually drop out because it might ruin the class rank and/or GPA. They hardly ever bring the class down, if the class is difficult they usually make sure that they try every avenue instead of failing, which might include dropping the class.

Please dont talk about things you know nothing about.

[Alphalogica]

Originally Posted by EEstudent

Most students that cant understand the material usually drop out because it might ruin the class rank and/or GPA. They hardly ever bring the class down, if the class is difficult they usually make sure that they try every avenue instead of failing, which might include dropping the class.

Please dont talk about things you know nothing about.

I would have to agree. Though my time as a Ranger was nearly a decade ago (CHS c/o '02), those who took AP and Honors classes meant business. If you couldn't make it, you took a downgrade to advanced. That's how it was when I was there. I've heard conflicting things about how it is now.

Despite spending my teen years in SL, going to Clements, and had the upper middle class go-to-college-to-succeed way of life drilled into me, I'm part of the camp that thinks the higher education bubble will eventually burst and there will be an increasing emphasis on skilled trades, practical skills and certifications which could consequently change high school as half of it is college prep. The level of competitiveness that those kids put themselves through to get into top schools is absolutely unreal. SAT's, SAT's, AP, Honors, YES Hours, AP, Honors, AP, SAT's, study, study, study, class rank...come on, it's absurd.

It should be noted that while I was there the pressure to succeed was so high, cheating at CHS was fairly rampant.

and...

What I also find interesting about CHS is that despite its outstanding local reputation academically, and nearly 30 years of existence, it doesn't have an impressive list of famous alumni. To my knowledge, it hasn't produced anybody who is known nationally in business or academics (i.e. CEO of a Fortune 500, nationally recognized academic, politician, etc.). Okay, you have Daniella Guzmán the Channel 2 reporter (she was there when I was) and Ryan Pontbriand the former football player for Rice who went pro (don't know what happened with that), but that's really about it...

(Attended Clements from 1998 to 2002)

[TXDungeonMaster]

Originally Posted by EEstudent

Most students that cant understand the material usually drop out because it might ruin the class rank and/or GPA. They hardly ever bring the class down, if the class is difficult they usually make sure that they try every avenue instead of failing, which might include dropping the class.

Please dont talk about things you know nothing about.

Here's another vote concurring with the comment above with a different reference point. Having grown up in another part of Texas, I experienced the norm in the school districts being that AP/IB classes are open to all with an asterisk reading "caveat emptor."

It's really self-selection as kids who have difficulty eventually downgrade to regular classes rather than continue working really hard and yet still getting hurt on class rank/GPA (i.e., what's the point?). And the great national equalizer when it comes to college applications is whether the student scored high enough on the exams to get college credit (i.e., 3 or 4 out of 5 for AP tests depending on the college). The real scam would be if all the kids took AP and the class average score was a 2 out of 5!

On Clements being rampant with regards to cheating and being hyper-competitive, that really suggests finding the right school environment for your child is key. I still think a larger (5A size), middle to upper class, moderately (not hyper) competitive, diverse public school in an area which has a good sense of community is the best bet in that it would provide a "normal" high school experience while having enough resources to offer all the AP/IB class options and extracurricular activities. I'd be curious what others think and what schools are like this (maybe a Clear Lake or Cypress Creek?). I'm not sure what qualifies as such in Houston, but there are plenty of schools in the other Texas cities that fit this bill.

On the original question, I'd give the edge to Bellaire as it seems to be a distinct little city within a city and the baseball tradition probably helps to bring the community together. On the student body side, both are likely equally competitive given the similar number of National Merit kids.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by zhugeliang1

How far is Bellaire High School from Rice University in terms of commute by car? by metro bus?

10-15 minutes by car. I don't know about bus... the Quickline is supposed to be pretty reliable.

[Alphalogica]

Originally Posted by TXDungeonMaster

On Clements being rampant with regards to cheating and being hyper-competitive, that really suggests finding the right school environment for your child is key.

Yes, indeed. Cheating at Clements is very much an open secret among alums, particularly those who were at the top of the class-rank/GPA game. I suppose cheating exists at essentially all high schools, but let's just say it was real bad. The pressure that those kids face from their families is absolutely enormous. I heard a cheating scandal broke out there in 2005, but I don't know too many details on it as that was past my time there, and I was out of state -- a long way from Sugar Land.

On paper it's an excellent school but looking back on it and really sorting it through, there was a lack of integrity and spirit at CHS. Those are qualities that you really can't quantify with numbers from the TEA or USNWR. Also, on past threads regarding the school, I remember some talking about whether there were race issues at CHS, which as an alum, can confirm. There's lots of reasons/stories behind that which I don't have time to spell out on here.

Drug use during my time there was very high as well as kids from that area can afford it. I remember when there was a time in SW Greater Houston that Clements was known as " a rich drug school."


Though I'm proud I went there, there are (or I hope, were) many unflattering aspects of the school that I'm surprised are rarely discussed on here.