Lincoln High School

Posted: April 26, 2026

Lincoln High School is different from the ground up. Intentionally designed to build on decades of research about how students learn best - most of which are at odds with the way us parents were educated and consequently what we expect to see our children have to do. Many of the reviews on here are complaining because their kids are not experiencing what they experienced - i.e. lots of homework, no re-takes on tests, teaching to standardized tests and expecting very little self-directed learning. What works best for student learning has been known for decades. Changing the school system is nearly impossible though for the very reasons these parents are complaining - it's not like they did it so it must be wrong. This is why much of the way they taught at Lincoln was kept quiet till the school was well established and the success was seen in test scores and college performance. They even brought in a change management expert to help get parents to buy into these wild ideas when they were starting the school. Since it was started from the ground up, they worked within school district regulations and really mixed things up. The result? Students emerge being self directed learners not kids who only do what they are told. Yes, they have to find information and learn it on their own in order to do well on the standardized tests. This is great preparation for real life. Yes, they can take tests over again because the point is not the grade it is that you learned the material. Yes, there is a lot of freedom in how they approach a project or even a chemistry lab because it is about being able to think for yourself, not have the teacher tell you what to think. Is it different? YES. Does it frustrate me that my kid doesn't come home with homework? YES. Do I sometimes wish the teachers would "baby" my kid a little more giving them more help? YES. Is falling down and learning to pick yourself up on your own good for your kid? YES. Is equity a big topic in school? YES. Does research back up that kids are more innovative, better listeners and learn material better when they hear different perspectives, work with those not like themselves and have to figure things out on their own? Yup. Did it prepare my kids well for college? YES. Does Lincoln get as many or more kids into the top universities in the country than the $$$ private schools in the area? Yup. Are my / have my kids been happy there? VERY. Don't expect typical.

Posted: April 26, 2026

Posted: April 26, 2026

Posted: April 26, 2026

Posted: April 26, 2026

Posted: April 26, 2026

Posted: April 26, 2026

Posted: June 1, 2025

Very impressed with the teachers and staff. This school seems to have a very welcoming culture and a lot of options for AP courses and high level-math courses. It is a project based school, and students are encouraged to demonstrate their learning through a proejct, which preapres them for the future outside of just exams and essays. While the teachers are supportive, I find the grading and standards to be fairly stringent. That being said, they seem to genuinly want to help kids improve and often allow opportunities to revise assignemts after they recieve feedback, so good grades are a realistic possibility for any student who is willing to work hard and be open to feedback.

Posted: June 1, 2025

Posted: June 1, 2025

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Posted: June 1, 2025

Posted: March 8, 2025

My student has had to teach themself the subject matter in nearly every class with the help of other students or trying to find answers online. With a few exceptions, the teaching staff that we have encountered is very unapproachable and unavailable for answering questions if something isn't clear. They discourage any kind of parent involvement, and threaten punishment to kids if a parent questions anything in the classroom. There have been instances where entire classrooms and families have complained about instructors and nothing was done. The leadership seems completely unwilling to consider that the staff could ever be part of the issue --even when every single student does poorly on an exam repeatedly because they are not being prepared for the material (and this is in AP level classes). In one case the school had an observer in the classroom every day to watch the instructor that was failing to motivate and teach the students, and that instructor is still on staff. I would consider another school or even moving north or east if I had it to do over again.

Posted: March 8, 2025

Posted: March 8, 2025

Posted: March 8, 2025

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Posted: March 8, 2025

Posted: November 15, 2023

My teen appreciates the variety of classes offered at Lincoln. Her sophomore year, she took 2 AP classes and scored 5 out of 5 for each. Encouraged by her teachers, she signed up 4 AP classes this year. She enjoys being challenged by both her teachers and athletic coaches, who have been supportive of her when she experienced a health challenge midway through a season. As parents, we appreciate all the levels of challenge and encouragement she has received from the Lincoln teachers, coaches, and student community.

Posted: November 15, 2023

Posted: November 15, 2023

Posted: November 15, 2023

Posted: November 15, 2023

Posted: November 15, 2023

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Posted: November 15, 2023

Posted: October 5, 2023

As a parent of a student here, I am appalled by how poorly my child has been challenged to learn anything, not just anything useful, but anything at all. My student strongly dislikes going to school, feels that it is a waste of time, and has had numerous problems getting the schedule straightened out so that graduation will be possible.

The homework is a joke, and the coursework is worse. I have personally read assignments given out by several different instructors and was disgusted with the number of grammatical errors included in the assignments and accompanying documentation provided with them. Those with Masters degrees should know how to put together a simple sentence. My three year old frequently does better than they have.

I cannot adequately express my revulsion with how poorly this school is preparing my child for getting a job, surviving in the world outside of school, or creating an environment in which students are pushed to succeed and achieve.

The only positive (from my child's perspective) at Lincoln is that the school is falling-over-backwards supportive of those who identify as some classification of minority. There is so much focus on this that it seems that nothing else matters--most especially useful instruction. Of course, the lack of meaningful learning is something that does not bother my student, as it means that the below sub-standard work produced produced by my child--as a result of the abyssally-low standards--is passing and thus, my student is earning grades good enough to graduate.

Earning a diploma one cannot read should not be the aspiration of any school, yet it seems that such even such a mean goal is too lofty here.

Had I known how horrifically bad this school is, I would NEVER have moved to this neighborhood.

Posted: October 5, 2023

Posted: October 5, 2023

Posted: October 5, 2023

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Posted: October 5, 2023

Posted: July 12, 2023

I'm the parent of a Lincoln student. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but both the policies set by the school and the actual conduct of the classes seem most consistent with a goal of no one working very hard as the top priority. There is no accountability at any level - not the students, not the teachers, not the advising staff, not the administration. Teachers grade assignments when/if they please, so if you're paying attention to the scores posted online you can't tell if something hasn't been handed in, or has but hasn't been graded, or has been graded but the grade just hasn't been recorded yet, or it has been recorded but it's an error, or is recorded by isn't the final grade because they allow for make-up work, or is the final grade. All of those are common. Teachers and counselors both make promises about what they are going to do, then don't do it, and don't respond to attempts to contact them.
Rather than motivate the students to be interested in learning, and giving them challenges that they can meet with some effort and be proud to have met, the school seems more oriented to giving everyone excuses to justify doing nothing. The main lesson is that whatever little thing you choose to do is just fine, good enough, don't work up a sweat. The school actually told students not to bother attending during scheduled school days. The school has policies, but individual teachers may or may not follow them. That works out fine for them, because no one is even attempting to hold the teachers to following the policies, but it's confusing and demotivating for the students.
A school that cared about outcomes would have some oversight and accountability. There are no mechanisms for oversight or accountability at Lincoln (or anywhere in SPS that I know of). This school demonstrates that when everyone, right down to the students, is through lack of oversight given full autonomy, and there is neither a penalty for doing a bad job nor a reward for doing a good one, most kids and public school education professionals will do, well, very close to nothing.
Oh, and unless you think the attention of a PTA should be focused on the relatively few students engaged in sports, the Lincoln PTA isn't much of an asset.

Posted: July 12, 2023

Posted: July 12, 2023

Posted: July 12, 2023

Posted: July 12, 2023

Posted: July 12, 2023