Tampa High Schools (Lutz: best neighborhoods, crime, transfer)

[Hockeyice]

Hello all

I know this has probably been discussed, but would any of you with knowledge of the Tampa high schools (public, private, or any other type) be willing to list the best ones and the worst ones? Base it on overall, with things like athletics, academics, safety, and the like. Try to base it on schools in Hillsborough County.

Thank you!

[nickbosy]

Originally Posted by Hockeyice

Hello all

I know this has probably been discussed, but would any of you with knowledge of the Tampa high schools (public, private, or any other type) be willing to list the best ones and the worst ones? Base it on overall, with things like athletics, academics, safety, and the like. Try to base it on schools in Hillsborough County.

Thank you!

the best public high school (that is non IB) in Tampa is (where I graduated) H.B. Plant High School in South Tampa.

Plant Athletics: Football is king here, and the team has been competitive and or state champions for a few years now. Very well known program.

Academics: students are pushed and have a myriad of AP's to choose from, as well as a variety of EC's. Plant is also routinely in Newsweek's "Top 100 High Schools in the country" list, and is usually one of the top schools in the county. They received a "B" rating recently, but usually receive A's. Also, involved PTA and good teachers.

Safety: South Tampa is beyond safe, and Plant's location is right in South Tampa, you will never have to be concerned with that...which is something i cannot say for other Hillsborrough County Schools. However, South Tampa is not the most affordable place to be, but personally, if I were considering a move to Tampa (proper)...I wouldn't consider another neighborhood in the county.

All other Hillsborrough County Schools (Robinson, Hillsborrough, King) are not in the best neighborhoods, but they do have IB programs that are incredible in their own right, but if your son or daughter will not be in IB...look elsewhere.

Private: I'd go with Berkley Prep. You definitely pay a lot, but you get a lot. Very competitive school, and I hear its that way among fellow students academically as well. I know BP is also very safe, but I can't imagine athletics is very strong.

Hope this helps!

[Jessuf]

Plant is a good regular public highschool for the criteria you listed, but keep in mind that everything is districted here and the more affordable areas of South Tampa probably do not feed into Plant hs.

If your child goes to a magnet school (specialized magnet or IB), you do not have to live in the district zone for that school. I lived in Lutz (north of Tampa), and I went to Hillsborough (about 13 or so miles away). There was a good bus system that took me to the school every morning, so my parents didn't have to worry about the commute. That said, all of the magnet schools are at lower-ranked high schools in somewhat crummy areas. However, aside from a car break-in once in the school parking lot, I never had any issues at my school, and to be honest, there is crime at every school.

As for private schools, I went to private schools from kindergarten through 8th grade, then transferred to an IB program. I really do not recommend private schools in Tampa unless you are loaded and you do not enjoy diversity. It is not worth the money, in my opinion. Also, middle class kids tend to feel discriminated against. I was made fun of because my parents drove older, cheap cars, and there is a tradition at Jesuit of putting pennies on students' cars that are not luxury brands like BMW or Mercedes. I suppose it is like this in every city, though.

Anyway, I went to an IB school for free, got free breakfast and lunch, free transportation via the bus system and got in some really excellent colleges, so I recommend either IB or a good regular public school. Other decent schools with decent extra curriculars in good parts of town are Gaither and Sickles. Sorry, but I don't know much about high schools outside of Tampa.