Shenendehowa High School

Posted: December 20, 2023

This school is terrible today my friends smelled paint thinner which is known to cause cancer the last few days they smelt smoke and bad smells having to cover their nose the school is not whatsoever worried about the safety of students there was a student who brought in a BB gun the few months ago someone brought in brass knuckles and another nunchucks the school could’ve bought a metal detector for the front door but instead they used all the money on weight lifting and gym equipment all they care about is sports,money and themselves not ever the students

Posted: December 20, 2023

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Posted: March 6, 2023

Hear me out, Shenendehowa High School isn't a bad school academically. It's factual that Shenendehowa High School is on paper, a great, and wonderful school. Lunch is actually ok. The Honors programs are all pretty good, I'm taking some right now, and I will be leaving this place with a good number of credits. In terms of College Preparation, it's actually really good. The Honors programs typically have well behaved students than the normal regents courses. The issue is the student body and administration. In recent years, the student population has gotten progressively worse. It's not uncommon to walk into the bathrooms and see a cloud of smoke, like literally it's foggy in there. I don't think it's healthy to breathe that in. Also, and it's been like this for a while, the upstairs bathroom is missing a stall door, like there's just a open toilet with no door on it. Apparently Shenendehowa Administrators don't think bathroom privacy isn't top priority. Also, if you're just standing in the bathroom, a toilet guard will come in and kick you out, why? Administration loves making things up as they go, and if they want to nail you for something, they most definitely will. They really only care about image and how the school looks, but the student experience is terrible. Certain groups of kids act like gang members here, and it's not really good. Even the monitors here partake in the same things that the students do. Monitors routinely inappropriately talk to girls here. Ultimately, it's a good school academically, but terrible socially. If you want to send your kid here because of the AP's and dual enrollment courses, do it. I wish that I had considered La Salle a bit more to be honest.

Posted: March 6, 2023

Posted: April 11, 2022

Experiences are based on so many factors so while I can understand some of the negative reviews, for my household, Shen is an amazing school district. Ample programs from academic, music to sports and everything in between. Great IT infrastructure with effective parent and student portals that allow the district to manage its immense size efficiently. Programs designed to provide added support to children that require added attention. Teachers who do want the best and want to teach. I think sometimes the issues others face with teachers have to factor their mandates from state and federal; they want to do well by the students but the restrictions placed on them strain parent-teacher relationships some times. As a whole the teachers really try hard.

We have spoken about this many times in our household over the years. We wanted our kids at this school district even over some reputable academic districts like Niskayuna because of the total package that Shen delivers.

Posted: April 11, 2022

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Posted: April 18, 2021

This school presents wonderful from the outside, but the being a student on the inside is incredibly different. I graduated in class of 2020 and was personally targeted by the class assistant principal. My parents tried to talk to the assistant principal only for him to rudely respond with emails, ignore them, and overall was very childish handling the situation. We then went to the principal and were able to figure it out, but had no apology from this assistant principal. Shen obviously has its priorities, because rather than keeping an eye open for bullying and reasonably dealing with those situations, they are busy dress coding 17 year old girls with their bra straps showing. If you aren't super smart or play sports, they see you as more of a burden than anything. Very few of the teachers that I encountered actually even thoroughly taught the class, and the majority of the ones that didn't teach thoroughly had no open time slots to get extra help from. Lots of the teachers and aides do not know how to handle situations such as a student having a mental break down, and most often tend to antagonize the student even more with their approach.

Posted: April 18, 2021

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Posted: July 4, 2018

Overall very good, the sports, the classes and the majority of teachers and administrators are doing a great job.

Posted: July 4, 2018

Posted: July 4, 2018

Teachers I have had experiences with have been helpful and interested in my child’s education

Posted: July 4, 2018

The school works hard to prevent bullying and build good character. The school can’t fix every problem, the parents are also responsible for teaching their own children values and morals, that doesn’t always happen.

Posted: July 4, 2018

Posted: July 4, 2018

Many programs are set up for the different learning levels

Posted: July 4, 2018

Programs are in place and educators are trained. Will this stop 100% of bullying, of course not.

Posted: June 6, 2017

Posted: June 6, 2017

Posted: June 6, 2017

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Posted: June 6, 2017

Posted: June 6, 2017

Found this school promotes hatred through political platforms that have no business in the educational environment.

Posted: January 1, 2017

This school district is not willing to follow their own written policies. They make the polices up as they go and how they want the outcome to be. This school district totally destroyed my child's future and diminished my child's accomplishments. Why would a school district not want the best for each student? Something I cannot comprehend. The only regret I have is that I bought a house the second time in the same school district. I should SO have listened to my colleagues and ran while I could.

Posted: January 1, 2017

Posted: January 1, 2017

There is a stigma with 504 and some teachers are very good about the 504 while others are not.

Posted: January 1, 2017

The leadership is bad. The school district does not know their own written polices.

Posted: January 1, 2017

Posted: January 1, 2017

Most of the teachers in elementary and middle schools are ok. Teachers at the high school are not that great. Few good ones do exist in the high school.

Posted: January 1, 2017

A lot of "busy" work is given without answers to problems. A student cannot learn without proper instruction.

Posted: November 25, 2015

Shen isn't terrible.
Like all schools, some teachers suck some teacher are great and some are OK.
Yes, Shen pushes students & has a rigorous curriculum but that's not really a problem. It does help students to be college ready. The problem exists with two things: The students and the way things are taught
In Shen, to make it anywhere you have to be a part of the elite group.
If you aren't, you'll never get treated well by students or teachers
if you aren't outgoing and extra into school activities, you're gonna find problems.
all that seems to matter in this school is social status and test scores.
It doesn't matter, to them, if you learn. It matters if you memorize enough facts to pass the many tests & raise their scores. I'll give it to Shen, their art department is phenomenal. I've loved my art teachers, they're so sweet and helpful and the courses really keep creativity flowing which is a nice break from everything else.
Shen isn't awful , it has its positives. Truth is, though, you won't really make it here if you aren't a part of that "popular" crowd.

Posted: November 25, 2015

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Posted: November 25, 2015

Posted: May 20, 2015

I think shen is a great place where you can learn and prepare for collage my daughter was able to go in a sport and keep her grades up because the sport had a high grade to achieve to stay in that sport now she is in a great university and learning to how to become a doctor thankyou shen

Posted: January 20, 2015

Shen high east and west are both great school. With something for everyone. A large music, technology, and art section. Sports are important at shen, but they don't take over the school. Shen is considered the best at most varsity sports, this is a result of the number of students who attend shen and try out for sports. We also have a great robotics team that goes to national often. Shen has a wide varity of clubs that you could join, from photography club to science club to french club (and other language clubs). The list of the clubs offered is on the school website. We also have a technological advantage since shen recently invested money in technology so their students could keep up with the changes in the world. A large number of AP courses are offered at shen too. Over all shen is a great school.

Posted: July 17, 2014

I've had 2 kids graduate from Shen and 1 almost finished. All 3 have enjoyed their experiences tremendously. They were challenged and prepared for college, while having many activities to participate in such as sports, student gov't, the future business leaders club, peer counseling, etc. The Principal and Superintendent are at all types of events and are very engaged in the education and culture of the school. My wife and I settled in Clifton park after 11+ years of moving around the U.S. with the military, and we could not be happier with where our children were raised and the education they received from Shen. My kids have high aspirations and their success in college so far tells me that Shen had a lot to do with preparing them for adulthood while providing positive childhood memories. It is a large school, and some kids will always struggle in their teenage years, but we have found that if a kid asks for help there is no shortage of assistance from the faculty. All schools have people that complain, but if you are looking for good values, work ethic, and opportunity then I don't think you will find many public schools that can top Shenendehowa.

Posted: June 27, 2014

I attended this school. Although it is portrayed as a wonderful, outstanding educational establishment, it is terrible. Teachers do not teach in sensible ways, and many, many children are oblivious as to what they are doing more than frequently. When children arent failing, having anxiety attacks, crying, or stressing over their tests, they sit in confusion due to indolent or just simply bad teachers not teaching in good ways. The test scores are a lie, because many fail a large amount of the tests given, due to poor teaching. Shen is honestly a very bad school. Although it may seem nice, the truth is maybe 30% of the school enjoys it, and is being educated to their liking.

Posted: December 1, 2012

I went there K-12 and would not have wanted to go anywhere else. They have programs for everyone. I graduated in 2009 and got into an engineering college thanks to my science and engineering teachers. This is the best public school in the district, whether you like sports or not.

Posted: August 3, 2012

Great school that offers a lot of different types of classes and extra curricular activities.