Grover Cleveland Charter High School

Posted: December 8, 2025

My older son is now a junior at Cleveland. His experience has been wonderful. He entered the Humanities Program after being in the Humanities Academy at Walter Reed Middle School. He was a decent student in middle school but has become a really engaged student as a result of the support and challenge of his teachers and community. He also plays on a team for the school. I would recommend this school to anyone looking for a welcoming and supportive experience.

Posted: December 8, 2025

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Posted: April 11, 2024

Cleveland is excellent. My child is in CORE (Humanities Magnet), but he participates in sports year-round and music, and those all-school programs are excellent as well. First of all, the education he's getting in CORE is world-class, and is decidedly more impressive than many of his friends at $50K private schools. He's learning things at CORE I never even knew about in high school... or college at a top 20 university. Something like 60% of the teachers here are former students themselves, which shows the devotion and learning is deep. CORE kids are going to great colleges, too.
The AP classes at Cleveland are challenging, though some of the science is just taught to the computer test, and there is very little joy of learning involved -- but that seems to a product of the AP system, certainly not Cleveland.
Sports are great, they spend almost too much time (do they need to take 6th period to play the sport and miss academics? Unfortunately this is an LAUSD issue. Do they need to play a sport all year around? This is just a by-product of good weather, I guess).
Music at Cleveland is top-notch, particularly the band program, which is winning city- and state-wide honors, they are excellent. Theater is getting good and CORE sponsors a fabulous rock band festival every year.
The NEW BUILDINGS at Cleveland make it look like a community college, which these LAUSD kids deserve. Don't hesitate to send your kids here!

Posted: April 11, 2024

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Posted: July 6, 2023

Cleveland is an amazing high school! My son just completed his freshman year and I am impressed with the positive social interactions he has had, the consistent motivation he had thanks to his dedicated CORE teachers, and the rigorous, but engaging curriculum covered. The school feels safe and warm to both my son and to myself. The teachers are truly invested in getting to know their students as individuals and this helps them feel important and seen. It also results in the building of a strong school community with lots of positive connections among the student body and staff. Beyond academics, my son was also heavily involved in the outstanding music program under the direction of Mr. Yassaman. The marching band won the LAUSD City Championship and both the concert and jazz bands earned superior ratings at their competitions throughout the year. More than anything, the kids involved in the music program had a built in family and the ongoing development of responsibility and commitment to a group. All in all, I am thrilled that my son is a part of Cleveland Charter High School and having an outstanding high school experience!

Posted: July 6, 2023

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Posted: June 10, 2023

What a great school! My children went through Claveland's Humanities Magnet program and the teachers have just been AMAZING! They teach critical thinking, ope-mindedness, true history and all of its aspects...building the children's foundation to be lifetime learners.

Posted: June 10, 2023

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Posted: December 8, 2022

The Humanities Magnet (CORE) is progressive and open-minded, and I love that about it. HOWEVER, the amount of homework and stress placed on the students is outrageous and simply WRONG. I regret taking a couple of respected friends' suggestions and enrolling my child here. My child used to love extracurricular activities and being physically active. My child used to enjoy spending free time with friends. This is no longer the case. When not doing homework, sleep is the goal. Tuning out is the goal. I have suggested transferring to a few different schools, where the academic reputation is still excellent without overloading the students with homework and stress, but my child refuses to leave. My child doesn't say the words, but my child doesn't want to be seen as a quitter or someone who couldn't handle the workload, and my child doesn't want to leave friends behind. My child is getting straight "A"s, but at what cost? The cost of peace of mind, for my child, my spouse, and me. The cost of free time. The cost of extracurricular activities. The cost of family time. The cost of peace of mind. Scrolling back in reviews on this website, I see that complaints about the homework load go back years. If only I'd done my research, instead of listening to others!

Posted: December 8, 2022

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Posted: May 2, 2021

Horrible Humanities Program. My daughter isin the Humanities Magnet Program at this school. It is disgusting how they confuse a lot of the children and have them question their identity.

Posted: May 2, 2021

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Posted: June 5, 2019

This is a terrible school. I would never, ever recommend it to anyone, not even my worst enemy. I regret enrolling my daughter here. I feel so terrible for the experience that she has had. Don’t send your kids here.

Posted: June 5, 2019

The website to check homework assignments is unorganized and never updated

Posted: June 5, 2019

The teachers at this school don’t care about students at all. Class sizes are so large that they’ve given up and they don’t care about the success of the kids. As far as special needs goes, my child has a 504
Plan and none of her teachers abide by it.

Posted: June 5, 2019

Zero accountability from administration, counselors, and deans. They are always blaming somebody else and do nothing to help students succeed

Posted: June 5, 2019

My child has a 504 plan and they do not abide by it

Posted: June 5, 2019

The staff at this school are the biggest bullies of them all.

Posted: May 6, 2019

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Posted: May 6, 2019

Students are given too much homework. The amount of homework is outrageous.

Posted: March 2, 2019

Busy work for the most part. An overkill of homework does not equal to rigor.

Posted: March 2, 2019

While a few teachers do invest in listening to their students, many don't take into account that if the majority of the students are failing, some adjustments need to be made. I also work in education, so I so have experience with this. Many of the core teachers are seen as better if they give more work. They are working for the recognition and not the students. There are exceptions of course, but I think that admin has to step in at times when a trend appears. The kids in Core aren't there to fool around . I do not believe in coddling but common sense is common sense.

Posted: March 2, 2019

Posted: March 2, 2019

Admin needs to take a step forward when kids are dropping grades (all of a studden) or the program all together. Getting a recognized award should not be the end all. As an educator, dog and pony shows, win all the time. Step in and do what you have to do for the kids.

Posted: March 2, 2019

Posted: March 2, 2019

Posted: March 2, 2019

If I had to do over, I would choose another school for my child. I like the themes and culture of the Core program, but the way it is run is not okay. Also , the autonomy given to some teachers is ridiculous. Yes, teaching styles will differ and are good but if your class is not preforming when these kids are overworked, where is the quality going to come from. The foundation is good, but the way that is run is not. Some teachers are arrogant and not willing to listen. Some comments made to my child this year were plain insensitive for a humanities magnet. My child is doing fine but at a cost of family time and rest. One extracurricular and your child will be up until midnight or later. Not healthy. My child is too far in and I have offered to move but too far in and friends keep my kid there. I see the exhaustion and anxiety in their friends eyes. I am highly disappointed. Admin step it up. I am not saying easier, I'm asking for effective without breaking a kid and a family. So in closing: Excessive useless work does not equal rigor. Admin should look into failing classes and revisit what is going on (not saying bad teachers, they get pushed around too, but some go too far). Make goal attainable for healthy students, body, mind, and family.

Posted: October 8, 2018

I have two children in the humanities magnet. The experience for them has been so much better than I imagined - I knew about the emphasis on writing, but didn't know how enriched the curriculum would be. The discussions, the incorporation of experiences, the group work, all motivate the students towards writing. This program builds connections between people. The skills they build not only are a prep. for college, but for life. I am so glad my family made the choice it did!!

Posted: October 8, 2018

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Posted: March 27, 2016

From what i've observed yes. It probably helps that they are connected with Miller CTC.

Posted: March 27, 2016

My daughter has teachers who will push her academically, socially, and emotionally. They're are giving her the tools to be independent, wise, and knowledgeable.

Posted: March 27, 2016

This is an A plus school when it comes to inclusion. My daughter has special needs. Half the time she is in general education classes. My daughter loves attending Cleveland HS. Her teachers are awesome.

Posted: June 3, 2015

Great School great scores!!! As a volunteer coach for Track, I can say that this school has the best team spirit in the league & students are amazing!

Posted: March 30, 2015

Cleveland is a great school, despite its negative points. I had problems with math in the beginning of the year but Cleveland offers tutoring during the afternoon and it's really helpful, now I have only straight As. My next year is my senior year and my counselor already set up everything and we talked about my graduation plan as well; Cleveland has a great team of teachers and staff, obviously there are a few exceptions. What bothers me a lot is the magnet program, where kids are taught they are awesome and extremely superior just for the fact of being there. Consequently, a great part of these magnet kids are arrogant, so if you are not part of any learning community this will bother your classes a lot. Other than that, Cleveland has a good infrastructure, good teachers, good programs and teams.

Posted: February 9, 2015

Half the teachers don't even teach or know how to teach, they just fail the students over things they have not taught. Also the students there are all terrible and trying to fight everyone, especially the girls! No classy people at this school I can assure you. This is all coming from a straight A student so if you want your child to succeed I recon another school, much bullies here as well. Everyone even teachers are rude. People got arrested this year (2015) for bringing a gun to school. This school is not safe either.

Posted: September 22, 2014

The magnet program is academically strong and the teachers in the program are very good. The school administration, however, is extremely unresponsive. If and when you can get through to someone, they will be rude and dishonest. Don't believe anything they tell you about non-magnet class availability.

Posted: May 12, 2013

As a parent of a student who attends Cleveland's Humanities Magnet (also known as CORE), I would like to reiterate this school's wonderful qualities and address some of the concerns brought up in the previous reviews. First of all, this is indeed a rather large urban school with a population of 3200. That being said, the CORE community--made up of about 900 students--is incredibly close-knit, which makes for a nice blend of the small-town and big-city experience. Furthermore, though it is true that budget cuts have crippled many programs at Cleveland, the same can be said for most other public schools in LAUSD and across the country. In fact, thanks to the dedication of CORE teachers, parents, and students, the economic difficulties have had no detrimental effect on the education that my child and her peers receive. Finally, I would like to point out that Cleveland's CORE program was one of 28 schools all across America to win the National Magnet Schools of America Award of Excellence. Sending my child to Cleveland is the best decision I could have made for her. She is incredibly happy, which is not something most people can say about their high school experiences.