I went to this school back in the day (wow I'm old) and I honestly did not fully enjoy my experience here... but then again, we are talking about high school. High school isn't always the awesome part of what you see in all of those teen bop high school movies (yep, guilty as charged, I am one of those saps who likes to watch those type of movies on tv).
Duarte High School is a pretty small school (at least when I was there, there was about 800 total in all 4 classes-- freshmen, soph, jrs, seniors--), as compared to the other schools in the San Gabriel Valley. I felt that my education was not nearly as well spent here than compared to those other schools. The reason why I know this is that I actually ended up transferring to another school after my sophomore year and realized what a richer school could actually provide for the students. Sorry fellow Du-Rock-ians (DuRock!), but DHS is ghetto. But it has definitely had some major changes over the past 10+ years (as I have seen when I pass by the 210 freeway and see and also what I have read in the local Duarte newspaper every so often), so hopefully the education has gotten better as well.
Some of the teachers I will always remember at DHS are: Dr. Brown, Ms. Center, Mr. Florez & Mr. Maloney. These teachers were just such quirky characters and I still wonder if these people are still there today teaching and tormenting the next generation of students. (These teachers did not heavily impact my life if you are wondering, just remembered for their odd/ unique personalities)
Not sure if I have a special or a favorite memory of Duarte High School, I just honestly only remember mostly the negative. But I did survive those 1st 2 years here and it did help shape the person I am today, so I guess I have to give Duarte High (and the school district) some credit to that. But I just can't bring myself to rating it any higher than 3 stars. :/
If I had the choice to go back in time and do high school all over again, I would most likely go to another one. read more