Class of 86. I came from SF public schools, a minority, into sports (soccer). I could have benefited from affirmative action, but didn't need it. As it was a feeder school at the time (not sure now), many students coming in were top of their class (I was) and later (shockingly) found themselves middle of the pack at Lowell. It didn't affect me, but I realize that for many, that can be rough. If you can't handle that pressure or simply don't want the competition, maybe its not for you. I wasn't a studyaholic like many others at Lowell were (you don't have to be), I wasn't a study nerd. I wasn't in the back lawn crowd either (which were the more popular kids) ... I was very into sports and led a very healthy high-school life, with numerous friends and social activity. I did my fair share of late night cramming, though, I had to in order to keep up the grades. I was very responsible with homework, always on time (or ahead of time) and in good form. I was never the smartest kid in the class, but hard work kept me near the top, which is where I wanted to be. That was a life lesson that would serve me well, throughout my career and to this day. I never needed a tutor nor help from parents, I just assumed my responsibility and did my work. In the end, I had good grades going in and got good grades going out. Top 5% of my class. Looking back, I have nothing to complain about. Competitive ... yes, but so is life. My memories of Lowell are summed by, great school, hard, but manageable if you are bright, hard working and responsible. If I had to do it again, I would. read more

afraid and scary! i do not want to go to lowell because it's to scary! lowell cardinal mascot looks like a goku!

My son attended Lowell years ago & even back then it was highly competitive to get in. In junior high he failed their entrance exam so we had a difficult time finding another high school. His GPA wasn't terrible; it just wasn't at Lowell's level. Fortunately we did find one who accepted him then he transferred to Lowell sophomore year as his grades were acceptable now. It appeared that transferring was lots easier than to apply with the herds to get into freshman year. The education quality on paper is excellent. In reality, from my son's experience, it depended on which teacher you ended up getting. Unfortunately he had the bad luck with some teachers. Frankly back then they still adhered to the nonsensical arena system of registering for classes. If one's surname was towards the end of the alphabet like his was one pretty much got leftover teachers who no one wanted due to bad reputations. For instance, he was tortured by the tenured Mandarin teacher who I understand was sued several times unsuccessfully for doing the same to other students. All in all, Lowell did open doors for him since the Lowell reputation back then at least was still stellar. However, the student has to be pretty tough skinned to attend. There are many cliques and again teachers who really do not belong there due to their abusive attitude yet have tenure so stay forever. One big thing is that it's a public school so one doesn't need to go bankrupt trying to afford private school. SF is highly expensive already to live here. From the tuition costs I noticed today for a few private schools they are charging as much as university tuition rates. I cannot imagine how any working class people can afford these schools even with those 'financial aid' packages. And the worst thing is many of these private schools have toxic reputations but you pay through the nose to have your children attend. read more

Likely the whole school don't care about anything and anyone else. Just with their own group friends. When people ask them where is the main office. They just look at you and walk away. When someone ask for any kind of help. They just walk away. I don't know what kind of school environment is this. read more

Lowell is and forever will be my 13th reason. The only good thing about this damn school is its name. Everything else about this school is terrible. The students, the teachers, the staff, the classes- all fucking terrible. The workload is absolutely atrocious, teachers expect kids to do so much work in such a short span of time and for what? Like damn, I wanna look good on applications but like Lowell really ain't worth dog shit. Let me live my life happy, Jesus. The students are fine, they're not disruptive or anything but fucking hell are they competitive. Like I'm sorry you got a 99.9% on a test, guess As aren't good enough for you whores. Ugh get a life. Bitch I'm warning you now, don't fucking go to this school or you'll end up like Hannah Baker. read more

I am forever thankful for Lowell when it was when I attended because I had no role models or mentors during my childhood. Being the first to go to college in my entire extended family, Lowell provided me with the structure I needed to succeed and flourish in the outside world as well as the competitive environment to acclimate me to what I would encounter in the following years till now. read more

Lessons learned: 1. Good grades are over-rated. I wound up going to San Francisco State and ran into an old friend from middle school who wasted no time in pointing out, "You went to Lowell and I got my GED and now we're both at State. What's wrong with this equation?" 2. PE and/or Swimming as your first class of the day is never a good idea. 3. Don't hang out with people who throw bonfires at Ocean Beach and get drunk regularly. This girl got so drunk once, she stepped on a burning plastic bag. That must've hurt. And to this day, "Luck" is still faintly seen on the bottom of her foot. The bag came from Lucky---that was back in the 80s before it became Albertson. I totally made that up, but it could've happened. 4. Cutting class regularly will not prevent you from graduating with a decent GPA. 5. In the grand scheme of things, GPAs don't matter. 6. It's only high school. If you're going out with a guy who says that the best years of his life were spent in high school and he's in his 30's now, it's time to move on. If this same guy still wears his high school ring, run. Run far and run fast. 7. I was at Target the other day and I saw this girl I went to high school with. She ran in a totally different circle from me because she was really pretty and popular and I was...well...REAL. And she's not really looking all that pretty anymore, pushing a shopping cart with her unruly toddler, snot running down its nose. This girl went to Princeton. I guess the lesson here is if all you're gonna do in life is look horrid and push a cart with a snot-nosed unruly toddler, then you should have nixed Princeton. And joined me at State. read more

You're probably wonderin' why the hell I'm reviewin' Lowell High school? But I think this high school is just as important to SF as the Golden Gate Bridge or Fisherman's warf? In fact I think every tourist should meander down to Lowell Alternative High School and let me tell you why....... Fact: 1. It's the best Public Magnet School in SF (The best public school in SF. You have to test into Lowell. It's not some school where you can just sign up to go to) 2. It's ranked top 50 in 2010 for best High school in America by World News and Report and News week. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *The school decor kinda reminds of what a post 2000 setting for 21 Jump Street. The classrooms aren't state of the art. It reminds me of a very LAUSD school but in SF. ** Teachers: Top notch. I went with my boy to visit and he got acquainted with one of his former AP Computer Science teachers and seemed like a good teacher from what I can tell ** Facilities: Seemed decent. Kinda looked like what my middle school kinda looked like. *As a former Asian American Studies Major at UCLA, I've read numerous case studies about Lowell High school and how it's impacting schooling and the API population.. Did you know? San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District (1980s) In 1983, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) attempted to ensure racial desegregation at Lowell and other schools by implementing a race-based admissions policy as a result of San Francisco NAACP v. San Francisco Unified School District and the 1983 Consent Decree settlement. Because of the Consent Decree, SFUSD strived to create a more equal distribution of race at Lowell, which was predominantly Chinese American, particularly trying to introduce more African American and Hispanic students into the school's population. As a result of this policy, effective in 1985, Chinese-American freshman applicants needed to score 65 out of a possible total of 69 eligibility points, whereas Caucasian and other East Asian candidates needed only 61 points. *So Asian people need to score higher on the entrance exam than everyone else. THATS RACIST. *Interesting Tidbit huh? Notable Alumni: 1. Jamie Chung from former Real World San Diego and the Hang Over 2. 2. Selena W. On Yelp, my boy D Shen class of 2002. Happy Trails. read more

For public schools, this one is legendarily elite. It has a rightly earned reputation for being challenging to get in, to stay in, and get out of, while preparing their students for college. Those who put in the work will be rewarded with a seamless transition to higher education. That said, my wife and I are alumni, but I am reviewing the school through the somewhat unique perspective of also having my son go there. I am saddened by how little of the school facilities have changed. It is understood that this is a public school with the budget that goes with that (but somehow the government can still build broken new bridges with bottomless funds, and prison facilities. I digress). There is a new Science Building. It is nice. Wish there were more improvements like that. The infamous Pit is now a tiered landscaped slope. Also nice. I've been here at night, however, and it is dark! Dangerous and scary dark. For all the extra curricular activities that occur at night here, this really should be addressed. The bathrooms compete with the public parks for levels of frightening filth and lack of maintenance. The athletic facilities (and even the P.E. Teachers) appear to remain unchanged since I have attended. Had I left gum under the bleachers, I would likely be able to find it today. I do not want to discourage any one who attends the school or works there. In that group I have to say, are very hard working tenacious people who excel beyond limitations. It is a shame that the work has to take place in such an environment. read more

Lowell High School - Senior night - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - San Francisco, California

Hmm...It must have been much cleaner when I went to Lowell (I second the other Yelper. When did they change their name to Alternative. Alternative to what? SF Board of Stupid Education, stop trying to make Lowellites look bad.). Anyhoo, it was 4 years of torture and handwringing but I can proudly say that I survived and my parents are happy for the free education. If nothing, Lowell taught me discipline. My work ethic and dogged determination came from those 4 years w/ the Lowell Indians (sorry, we weren't some dumb color when we went to school). I also managed to look real sophisticated in the eyes of my fellow college freshman when I breezed through statistics class (been there done that). I have only fond memories of Lowell! read more

I thought I would review Lowell from a parent's perspective, so other prospective parents would know what their kid is getting into. This is mostly based on my child's experiences at this school. I also attended Lowell, but it's changed so much over the years, I don't think my experiences are all that relevant. First, the bad stuff. Teacher unions have a lot of power. I'm not against teachers having a union, but I think there needs to be easier ways to get rid of the incompetents. So what does SFUSD do with some of these incompetents that wouldn't even survive in the corporate or business world? SFUSD sticks them at Lowell! Yes, every school has bad teachers, but Lowell seems to have more than its share. (There's an English teacher who broke down in tears during the middle of class, crawled under her desk, and sat there until the end of class. She's still teaching there. So far, that's been my kid's worse experience, but almost any student there will have a really bad teacher story.) Judging from my child's homework and classroom cirriculum, many of the teachers don't TEACH, they FACILITATE. They assume the students will find out the information on their own or from their classmates. Some teachers may have this style because they want to foster educational independence in the students. I think most of the bad teachers do this because of incompetency or laziness (or both). If your child hopes to have a good musical experience at Lowell, send your child to SOTA. The orchestra program is pretty good (probably because of all the children of Tiger Moms), but the choir and band are pretty bad. My child went to a public middle school in SFUSD, and the middle school band and choir programs there were significantly better. Go to the middle school concerts, and you can easily tell that the middle school students (coming with zero experience) are actually taught to play and sing. I heard that at one Lowell band rehearsal, the teacher just kept telling the students to practice a badly played piece again and again without even telling the students what they were doing wrong. Why stick the crap teachers at Lowell? My pet theory is because the students are themselves motivated enough to learn on their own, or already know the material from after-school classes (i.e. Kumon). So SFUSD can hide the lousy teachers at Lowell without doing too much damage. Can you imagine that bi-polar English teacher teaching first grade? Now the good stuff. At Lowell, my kid is surrounded by other smart, often well-behaved, and respectful kids. The peer environment is one of the strongest selling points for Lowell. Seeing others work hard, I think my child has learned what excellence really means in life, and what obstacles that self-motivation can overcome. Many students at Lowell gripe that there's too much emphasis and pressure on grades, but obtaining good grades provides a focused goal that can help forge my child into a stronger, more confident adult. (Or it can break a child, but a parent should be able to recognize that and help when appropriate.) In today's world where the greatest adversity a child faces is not getting an iPhone for Christmas, I think the intensity at Lowell is a taste of REAL LIFE that kids need to be exposed to. Lowell may be regarded as competitive (with the image of cut-throat nerds hoarding their study notes with sharpened pencils), but there's a lot of cooperation between students. There's mentoring and tutoring programs, and most of the student themselves are willing to help others with homework or understanding the latest lessons (as my child has helped and been helped). Not all the teachers at Lowell are inept. Most are actually pretty decent, and there are a few outstanding ones that have really taught my child. Even the bad teachers have taught my child important lessons - life is not fair, crap happens, there are very bad, very stupid, and very selfish people in the world, DEAL WITH IT. To the many students who may have felt that Lowell was a waste for them, because they're attending SFSU or CCSF with students from less rigorous high schools, I say that you're most likely better students and better able to handle the college classes than the others. Your chances for success in college and a career are still better than others. So I think the best thing about Lowell is that it really helps to prepare my child for dealing with challenges in life. YMMV. Oh, and here's another big plus for Lowell. IT"S SAFE! read more

Things I learned in Lowell: 1. The students are what make this school great. Most of the teachers don't teach and they have Nothing to do with the students' success. 2. You are a small fish in a big pond. Even though you might have a 4.0 GPA in middle school, when you get to Lowell, you're a nobody. Every other person has a 4.0 GPA in middle school. 3. Students with good grades are respected, NOT teased as nerds. 4. Grades mean the world ; learning is only secondary. 5. Lowell students know what they want to do for the rest of their life at Age 14. They plan ahead and take AP classes that will give them college credit. They look through college catalogues ahead of time to know what classes they'll need. I regret not having fun during my high school years. I worried about getting good grades so much that I solid-packed my schedule with only academics. Even with that, I still end up with so-so grades (FIERCE competition especially with a bell curve!). I went to UC Davis with a 3.6 GPA (didn't make it to Cal nor UCLA). Enjoyed every moment of UC Davis because it was easy. Lowell prepped me with the necessary studying habits that made transitioning to college life easy. Had lots of fun in college. Maybe that was the trade-off. read more

I will proudly say that I attended the best high school in San Francisco. The BEST I say, regardless of public or private. I love Lowell for all it is--its ghetto classrooms/bungalows, students from all backgrounds, the Asians, experiences that will shatter your sense of self-worth, and of course, these teachers-- Chinese with Chang and Ong. English with Rogers. Math with Chan. APUSH with Schwarz. AP Biology with Dr. Hill. (I didn't appreciate him at the time, but now that I think back, his class was hilarious.) AP Calculus with Hoffman. AP Economics with Spellicy. *I wish I had room to take AP Psych...I hear AP Psych teachers at Lowell are awesome. I missed out. =( These teachers make Lowell all worth it. Rigorous, worthwhile curriculum and superior instruction. Of course, Lowell had its horrible teachers, which I won't all mention here...but I WILL say that the majority of English teachers here suck and are biased. As an exemplary case, in my junior year, I had a teacher who gave a C to my friend who ended up with a 5 on the AP exam. Another classmate got an A in the class but a 3 on the exam. Wut. (I kept getting Bs in AP English classes but 5's on both AP English exams...not happy.) I'll also admit that because I was so focused on academics, I didn't take fun classes like drawing, choir, or dance, despite my love for the arts...no room for that. I needed to take all the AP classes that would fit into my schedule so I could be one of the cool kids, not to mention they would inflate my weighted GPA. I had deluded priorities back then; if I could go back, I'd choose the art classes. But overall, I loved my years at Lowell after I learned to stop caring so much about grades, especially in retrospect. I ended with a 3.8 something overall GPA, 4.5 weighted. I knew kids at other high schools were getting straight 4.0s and not losing any sleep, whereas I cried my eyes out at least two times during high school thinking that I was stupid in choosing Lowell. The crying stopped when I learned to stop caring so much. Mid-sophomore year, I was convinced that I wouldn't be attending any "good" college. I thought about not bothering to apply to higher ranked universities, but my parents told me to just do it. What do you know...I received admission to 100% of the colleges I applied to and eventually got peer-pressed into attending Cal. I guess a few B's don't hurt if you're coming out of Lowell. So, I'm now a chemical engineering major at UC Berkeley. I thought Lowell was hard? "College will be easy after Lowell!" Heh. That's not applicable in my case. Though I am doing above average, I basically went through a second level of Lowell. Crying over exams, getting over the fact that my grades will be even further from perfect, learning to not care so much. Mhmm. There was good reason I considered turning down Cal for a UC in SoCal. I only hope that my Lowell experience repeats itself in all respects, and that I end up with a career at the end of all this pain. When that day comes, I'll be back to Yelp about UC Berkeley in favorable light. I still wish I had gone to UCSD or UCLA sometimes...but that's another story. In the end, I'm glad that I attended Lowell, got whatever ego I had thoroughly crushed, learned what I did, met some amazing people there--both teachers and students. I met friends for life in these hallways. I would send my kids to Lowell, if it's still the same way years from now. However, I heard there have been some ridiculous changes made to the modular schedule, and they're considering doing away with arena...seriously, why would you change a system that works and is a hallmark of San Francisco's best high school, regardless of how unconventional? For those who don't attend the school, orchestra concerts, dance performances, and musical/drama productions are totally worth the less-than-ten-dollars admission fee. =) read more

First of all, the concept of Lowell High School is asinine and flawed. Why would you take the top students from all the middle schools, and then pit 'em against each other at an institution like Lowell? Think of the drain that places on the other high schools. And when kids make it to Lowell, they fight for a limited supply of A's, and most end up with worse grades than they otherwise would have. I fail to see how this benefits anyone. -Minus one star right there Second, the location is hard to get to. Some students grind through the bus lines that run through the Sunset. Others take MUNI Metro, and then walk half a mile. Thank goodness the weather is normally cool and foggy. Imagine if the weather were hot and humid! It's not uncommon for kids to spend an hour (each way!) commuting to and from Lowell. Okay, okay, so that's not Lowell's fault per se. The blame lies in SF's poor transportation. Nevertheless, Lowell's location isn't convenient. -Minus another star Up until the early 90s or so, Lowell's teachers were known to be strict, petty, biased, old, wacky, or prejudiced. They were stingy in allowing the majority of students to earn good grades. But after this last old guard generation retired en masse in the 90s, the replacements have become friggin' easy. What's up with that?! Unlike Lowell's first 140 years, the last decade has seen everyone get A's. -Minus another star But perhaps the greatest poke in the eye for alumni (of which I am one) was the selection of the mascot. It's one ting to remove the Indian. Hardly anyone nowadays supports such a bigoted mascot. After the Indian was unceremoniously axed, Lowell had no mascot. In hindsight, this would have been fine, considering what Lowell eventually picked. Initially, the Spartan was tapped, but, uh, that was kludgy and culturally insensitive. So Lowell totally dropped the ball and compounded the problem, by choosing the cardinal bird as the mascot. Words can't express how disappointing, weak, and lame this is. -Minus six stars Obviously, Lowell's mascot should be the Loch Monster. With Lake Merced right across the street from campus, the Loch Monster is most appropriate. It'd be awesome to have a red & white (Lowell's colors) plesiosaur rise from the hallowed depths of Lake Merced, the creature's head poking through the fog. Lowell could then have a fundraiser, highlighted with a name-that-Loch-Monster contest. Larry? Lucy? Louie? Leilani? Lucky? Loony? Let the students, staff, and alumni decide! -Plus five stars! read more

For a public school, this is a great school. Is Axt still here? He has been here since my grandfather started. This school does not provide any quality education AT ALL, just forces you to take AP classes so that they can make money off AP tests. Then people fail will go to fake colleges but the people who do decent will go to good colleges. BEWARE of crazy teachers who force you to take their AP class, very bad! read more

To Cingular, Get a clue, man. I agree with a few of the sentiments on here. Lowell is a pretty good school, having graduated from here. However, if there's one era of my life that I would not relive, it's my high school days. Colleges will not really care what high school you attended. Also, I thought life was pretty stressful here as everybody was always intent on being the best and overly competitive. A miniature version of Cal, in a ways. Being elitous as Lowell is, I think there's much to be said about balancing and living your life to the fullest, not just being locked up in a library or your bedroom studying all the time. Don't sacrifice your personal life entirely for academic achievement. It's not worth it, trust me. read more

Lowell has seen the best and worst of me. It helped me learn, grow, and deal with my hardships while making me keep in mind that there is always work to be done. It's NOT overrated. When a school can motivate you to do bigger, better things--let alone compete with the best students in the city, I can definitely say that they have not failed one bit. The students of Lowell all fight to be the best of the best. Just because the city's selection of teachers have not challenged us as much as they used to challenge the students back in the day, that does not mean that the quality of our education has gone down. They may not be challenging but I'm pretty sure it has gotten easier to build personal relationships with each instructor, making it easier for the students to ask for help whenever they need it. I also loved Lowell for allowing me the freedom I've never had before then. Yea, I did get a little excited and took advantage of the open campus lunches and modular schedules...I failed lots of classes my first year because of cutting classes. But every year after that, I was able to pick myself up again because I hated the consequences I had to face for the decisions I made my first year. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but my point is, they prepared me for the real life. They shaped me into being a stronger, and smarter person, allowing me the confidence to glide through other different obstacles I must face in life. Now, I'm not saying that I'd go back in time to relive those days I've spent here, but I'm definitely thankful for the experience. read more

For the most part, I did not enjoy my time at this school. I was there from 1994-1998. There were one or two instructors that should not have been teaching, but aside from those few selects, the teachers were quite top notch. Anyone who says they like going to classes and doing homework is lying through their teeth, but the instructors really made it worthwhile. I gave my fair share of shitty behavior, but the teachers took it like champs.. However, it wasn't the curriculum that left such a sour and distaste in my mouth. You know when some say that they wish they could relive their high school moments? That person isn't me. There were so many instances where you could literally attach a camera crew to all the cliques and show this crap on MTV as a full featured drama and get ratings through the roof. I could have gone without the drama. But again, I wouldn't be the person I am today if it were not for my time there. It just could have been a better social experience. Half of your high school experience should go beyond your assignments, right? I never felt anything resembling that until I got into college. If I had to sum up the amount of things I learned about life in college, it would be that one year in college was worth more than the 4 years at Lowell. read more

I graduated from this school more than 10 years ago. Although my grades plummeted here compared to my days in private school, and the whole school wasn't exactly the cleanest or the nicest campus, I do have really fond memories of this place. Last summer, I had my 10 year reunion and as I saw people I haven't seen since graduation, it was weird seeing them but in a refreshing kinda way. Our lives have changed so much after 10 years, but that one night made it feel like I was walking through the hallways or the catwalk. It was really nice. Anyway, I wasn't the smartest or the most popular person in school and yes, I did wind up at State afterwards. But I did learn alot of things at Lowell. One was mastering the art of cheating (yes, before all this advanced technology bullshit and I don't support cheating now because you won't get anything out of it in the long term!!!), how to schmooze the teachers to give us extra credit assignments (i definitely needed those! and still support that!) and the most important thing I learned was to be competitive (can be a good or bad thing, but overall good) because you can definitely use that in the future (and you'll need it, believe me) Hopefully, by the time I have kids myself I can send them to Lowell (or Serra HS, my bf's alma mater...if I had sons) read more

I'm a senior right now and I can't wait to graduate. Though it's not my favorite place to be right now (in fact I think I hate this place right now), I know that I'll look back in a few years and realize what a great place it is. It's the best free education anyone can get in this city. I wouldn't want to go to any other school in SF. I'm an average student, no 4.0's for me heh. But I have my 3.somethings going. Lowell really isn't a difficult place, you just have to try. It also depends on which teachers you get. Last pick for scheduling this time? You're screwed. Good thing I had that Freshman year, though it was terrifying during that first arena. Now I've got first pick! :D Most of the teachers at Lowell are alright. The majority of the teachers I've had actually care about the students and teaching. I never had those huge loads of homework I've heard so much about. Lowell has tons of clubs and extracurriculars and a much wider course selection than other schools. The food has improved a lot this year. I get cream of broccoli soup and garlic bread for a buck fifty!! Awesome on the rainy days we've been having lately. As for those bathroom stalls with short doors, there's only a few left I think. I never liked using school restrooms anyways. EDIT 11/11/08 I can't believe it. I actually sorta kinda miss this place.. EDIT 1/29/09 ..NAHTTTT read more

Considering that I've finally, officially graduated from the relatively well known Lowell High School, I think it's about time that I update my review. Let's get down to the knitty-gritty about what makes this a good school and what makes it a bad school. Extraordinary teachers are not responsible for Lowell's reputation. In fact, many of the teachers aren't good at what they do. Lowell is a "good school" because the students that attend LHS know how to take tests. Us Lowellites know how to buy prep-books and cram for our STARs, ACTs, SATs, APs, and any other acronym-laden test. Now I'm not trying to say that all the teachers are horrible, because that is certainly not the case, but I think I can safely state that the only thing that sets Lowell students academically ahead of other high school students is the fact that we are really good at taking tests. I will say that there are some absolutely amazing teachers at this school that are extremely dedicated to teaching kids as much as they can and really try to instill a love for learning in them rather than promote the typical, "just read chapter 8, I'll test you on it, if you memorize it and get an A that's enough" attitude that is prevalent throughout this school. Many teachers here do not know what they are talking about whatsoever and grade primarily based on "favorites". There's a lot of bullshit going on at this place. Much of the administration here treats students like meat, only using them to uphold the prestige of what is Lowell High School and continually pressuring them to take more APs. I never really felt any emotional investment from any of the administration during my four years at Lowell. When I struggled with a sporadic schedule change during my freshman year I recall how lost and helpless I felt as the administration continually sent me from office to office seemingly without empathy as I tried to sort out the mess that was my schedule. Another time, I recall the lack of help I received when a textbook had accidentally been reported as "unreturned" for me and I was forced to put a down payment on it in order to schedule my classes. Thanks for the help administration, I sure do owe you one! But I cannot ever forget about the good that Lowell has given me. As I prepare to head off to college and begin life after Lowell I can say that I feel confident in my abilities. Academically, socially, and emotionally, I am prepared for whatever comes my way. If I can survive Lowell, I can survive anything. The best part of these past four years have, of course, been the relationships I've fostered with my fellow peers. The social scene is great at Lowell as long as you allow it to be that way. There are amazing events for students--dances, scavenger hunts, food nights, and more! I will never forget all the great times I've had with the finest, brightest, and greatest teenagers of San Francisco. And I guess that's what makes it all worth it. read more

Thanks to Daniel M for reminding me of the good ol' days at Lowell. I cannot believe it has been TEN years since I graduated!!! That is unreal. As great as high school was, I am glad to have moved onto the better part of life. However, the experience was definitely unique. Where else would you get a schedule full of MODS? Or a path, surrounded by trees and bushes, to walk through a broken fence to get to an abandoned parking lot connected to Stonestown mall? Or a quick walk the other way to Lakeshore Mall. My fav place was ROSS. Yup. I got it at Ross! I remember the language lab. What a drag. Did anyone else have Ms. Chin? She was nice. She is in a better place now though. I was a student assistant for Ms. Gonzales. She rocked! Ms. Louie was hilarious. Ms. Cofer was physically in class but was mentally away on sabbatical. There was another English teacher that never gave me or anyone else better than a C. Ok, I lie. When I tried really really hard he gave me a C+. I cant remember his name though. Was it Mr. Taylor? Who knows. I must have regressed those traumatic memories. Dean Thomas was awesome!!! No matter how many times I went "missing" from class, I never made it to the cut list. yeahhhhhh. Thats just how I roll. Dont hate. I remember circling around and around to find a parking spot for my car, Crusty Rusty. I definitely dont miss getting yelled at for eating in the halls. It was like I was smuggling in drugs when I was hiding my sandwich or taco bell burrito. Ohhhh the food court or that little cubicle that sold food. What was that called? It wasnt the cafeteria. So many lost memories! Good times. Great school. Great teachers (some not so great). Great friends. read more

Lowell was good. I had at least half a dozen real teachers - the kind that make it worth going to school every day for the whole class. At least a few more I got along well enough with that class seemed worthwhile. The student-driven scheduling system (at least before the new reforms) made it possible to keep taking classes with those teachers when you found them. I also loved the huge student population after a small middle school, there are countless little niches of all sorts, and no school-wide drama. The downsides? Inedible food combined with a location far from good food. Immense bureaucracy. Many apathetic teachers. Several (tenured) teachers with a clear dislike for their students or complete ignorance of the material. read more

My alma matter. It was an hour bus ride to get to you and another hour to get away from you. I hated the commute. And because I started out bottom last in picking my classes/professors during my first year, I always got stuck with the hard professors. My grades were not as good as it would have been if I went to another school, but Lowell prepared me well for college. Word of advice: Take as many AP classes in high school because they will count toward college. Take Shimmons for AP Econ! Cherish your high school years. read more

Wow.. uhh.. what can I say. Years of disgusting bathrooms, flies in the hall, phallic symbol graffiti, leaking ceilings, flickering lights during tests, gross mystery lunches, oh but the Social Studies department rocks! Edit: WOOOOOOOOOO I finally graduated!! read more

Class of '02! Ah the highschool years, back when nothing mattered and teachers hated you. This school is depressing if you start getting lazy with your school-work. Teachers shun you. Waaaay back, when I was in my sophmore year, I took an English class with Kelly. He was a prick. He kicked me out of class the first time that I didn't read his assigned book. Fuck you Kelly!!!! The only thing redeeming Lowell is the fact that Drain, another English teacher, was there. I felt he sincerely believes in his students and encouraged me to try harder. He's like a single, bright star in the blackness of space. read more

The difficulty of Lowell varies from person to person; it really depends on the teachers one gets. Some people end up with incredibly difficult (some may even say unfair) teachers for all of their classes, while others may have gotten lucky with caring, passionate teachers. I felt that I tended to end up with the tougher teachers, but if it weren't for those experiences, I wouldn't have learned the art of cultivating assertiveness. Success isn't all about hard work. It's about perseverance, timing/luck, and the ability to adapt. 'Life is not a spectator sport.' This world's a rat race and you wont get what you want unless you ask and fight for it, regardless of how much you may deserve whatever it is. You will learn how important it is to communicate with your teachers. Let them know you're a good student with a passion for learning. Bonus if you can also remind them that you're a human being with moral values. All in all, I think Lowell's high rankings can mostly be attributed to their selectivity during the admissions process. Most of the teachers simply do not teach. I mean, you'll find a life-changing teacher here and there, but the chances are one in a million. Yup, that's Lowell for you. At least they are good in preparing kids for college... which, needless to say, is another can of worms in terms of getting quality professors. read more

I loved it, but maybe cause I was school VP. that makes me just a LITTLE bit biased.... The classes were challenging, but manageable if you studied (or copied). They offer every language and AP course that you would find at a shishi boarding school, and it's FREE! Did I mention the 94% passing rate on AP exams? hey :D The school dances were notoriously off the hook. Where else can you dance all night outdoors with 1000 of your closest friends??? In the rain, splashing in puddles and singing bizarre love triangle and nsync. "God must have speeennnnt a little more time....... on yooooooou yoou yoou!!!" -1 because I was single alllll throughout high school which made me a big loser, but whatever. Also, because I talked to Mr. Spellicy (AP Econ aka Roast King) and he says the school's excellence has become more of a challenge to maintain--given certain changes in the SFUSD. There was a saying: "If you went to Lowell, you're set for life." I wasn't sure if this was true until now that I've been out for a few years and I get to see the many successful lowellites around me. weee! :) read more

I actually happened to attend this school for 4 confusing years. Lots of memories, good and bad come to mind (Vodka Water bottle , m80 squash incident, cutting class to hang out at other schools). Anyhow, great school as far as academics, horrible as far as campus. I'm pissed they decided to redo stuff and another building as soon as I left. read more

The best of times, the worst of times... I'm not sure if I had the finest education to be had here, but one big advantage is that if you participate in the academic rat race, the delusions that you're hot shit are knocked clean out of your head pretty quickly. Humility is a virtue. Also, you learn how long you can work before you collapse and/or you're no longer effective, and you become completed jaded because you're not sure what all that work and the sleepless nights were for. Most folks don't learn that until their first job out of college! read more

To Jay V.: To some people. competition helps them do better... to others maybe not. Being one of the tops students at Lowell means a lot ( like one of my friends who's at Harvard now without all the things lowell had to offer, he would've never been able to go ) and not everyone has to spend their time at the library studying to be smart. Some people actually have a life and still get a 4.0 Lowell is an awesome High School. TO Just J. : You only wound up at State cuz you're dumb....D-U-M-B it's your own fault. Even though good grades aren't everything, they're important since they're a reflection of your progress in school. You probably think that a C is an A. FYI there are dumb people at lowell. PE and Swimming is a good way to start the day. Excercise wakes you up. unless you're a fatass who hates excercising? o.0 read more

You really have to give it to TB he knows the city like the back of his hand. Its very warm today and he knows how I would enjoy playing tennis at this lovely near 90 degree weather. he drove me here, im sure it brought back memories to him since 2 of his ex-love went to school here back in the day. at first we thought that the courts were locked but we got lucky. there are probably 10 courts. the one we played on had cracks but thats alright. tennis is a game that starts with love...so anywhere we end playing it will always be wonderful. read more

There's no debate that Lowell is at the top of the charts; academically. However, high school is about so much more and, unfortunately, they fail with respect to these other areas. The college-prep system is, for many kids, an easy way to cut classes. Not sure about how things are now but, given the fiscal crisis, I can certainly speculate that kids get even less emotional guidance than when I attended. We're all trying to find ourselves in high school, which is why close adult supervision is paramount. Apart from its high caliber of didactic studies, I wonder how Lowell students would be rated for their 'emotional intelligence". read more

Here was my Lowell experience (from 1993-1997) for you: * Mr. Spellicy (http://www.earcos.org/etc2009/images/spellicy70.jpg), one of the best teachers I have EVER had. * Ms. Gonzales (http://www.lowellalumni.org/pix/mg.jpg), another great teacher that tried to steer me into teaching after I graduated college. * Walking along the trestle path to Stonestown. * Playing basketball after school from 2.40 - 5.30 against SF State students. * Signing up for "office work" or "TA" duties as the last mod, and unofficially switching it to earlier in the day to get out of school earlier. * Ditching homeroom to get breakfast at some diner on Taravel. * Burger King lunches. * Taco Bell lunches. * Dropping a deuce in the cleanest bathroom on campus, the 1st floor bathroom (by the book storage room). * Getting in trouble for giving Mr. McMains the middle finger during class (My finger was broken and in a splint...). * Driving around Lake Merced after school and harassing the Cross Country / Track team while they ran. * Ms. Cofer, falling asleep while reading some book to us during class. * Getting sent to Dean Thomas' office for eating in the hallway WHEN IT WAS RAINING OUTSIDE. * Switching classes to be in the same mod with a cute girl. * Getting a "D" on a US History term paper because I accidentally blurted out, "Tree!?" after my Irish teacher said "Three." * Having a crush on Ms. Choi (http://www.lowellalumni.org/pix/mc.jpg). (Lauren if you're reading this, I'm sorry...) * Hanging out at SF State's MU after school. * Having a crush on Ms. Kwong. * Convincing Hodges (the security guard) to let us drive our cars out of the student parking lot during school hours b/c we "left our homework at home." * Mr. Bissett convincing me to not come to AP Chemistry class b/c he didn't think I would pass the exam, and giving me a "B" just for showing up once every three weeks. * Passing notes in Mr. Descilo's class, and me getting in trouble for talking, when it clearly wasn't me talking. * Watching a classmate pick a fight with Mr. Girling in the hallway during summer school. * Starting high school at 5'3" and graduating at 6'. Whew..! * Starting high school at 185 lbs, and graduating at 220. Shiet... * Watching Mr. Axt practice his tennis swing during P.E. * Crystal Pepsi (http://www.coveck.com/images/crystal_pepsi.jpg) in the boys' locker room vending machine. * Getting in a fight in the classroom with some football player right before Geometry class. To sum my four years at Lowell, lots of memories....but it didn't compare to college!!! read more

Lowell is great. I attended Lowell as a freshman for one semester. Reading these reviews I feel part of a community I belong to finally and I feel connected now again. You guys should compare this school to Urban school. University High School has 0 reviews The yelp review on Urban School... "I was lucky enough to attend an elite private high school that now costs around $27,000 a year (including laptop fee---every student is now issued an ibook to use for all fours years. We used paper and pen back in my day). Let's forget about the outrageous tuition for a second and focus on the positives: small classes where everyone learns to voice an opinion; courses like Ornithology, Circus Arts, Faulkner, printmaking, etc.; committed, often brilliant teachers who stick around for many years; no grades!; great outdoor program; great people in general. Definitely not a snotty institution, although they could probably stand to give out more scholarships to increase socio-economic diversity. Speaking of which, I hear they are hiring a diversity specialist. Either that's totally awesome, or indicative of dysfunction, I can't decide. I'm proud to say that Urban was the first step in a series of expensive degrees that have taught me to think but don't qualify me for any kind of paying job. Go Blue!" I attended Lowell during a time when I don't think most people liked it, they loved studying but not the constant pressure of the need to always be the top student. I am glad to see Lowell has changed. I think a motivated student achieves a much better self image by going to a school like Lowell where it is rigorous sure but lacks the elitism of so many private schools in the city. I feel really quite robbed and limited by the experience of an elite mentality private school. The people I knew from Lowell many were not very interested in college because they already did college or more at Lowell. Your review is so well written, private schools think they are better and the reviews are barely cogent. I just want to debunk the myth about private schools being better because you pay $25,600 for kindergarten at some of them in the city. The idea that you're going to succeed more in life b/c of this is false. I think public school students would be very hurt to know what private school students think of them and that the truth is overall public school churn out more scientists than private schools. Its rather sad that alot of students at the other public high schools tend to lack as much parental support, at least a few with a reputation for being slackers. Possibly. But I would turn out better more grounded going to School of the Arts or Washington. And I'm curious as to what Galileo is like now as a science school. So I would have to compare Lowell to Galileo if I were a h.s. student today. I felt very frustrated in the particular private school class I felt that I just wanted to be in a class with people who wanted to learn and to me I wouldn't judge them by what kind of ability they displayed as long as they wanted to learn. sometimes you learn yourself when you teach other people. It was a family friend who attended Lowell and encouraged me to want to be smart and do well in school. They were forced to flee Central America during political instability. That seemed rather exciting/advertous to me. My parents were a little too passive in that regard. Gabby later her dream was to go to Columbia University where she dreamed of becoming a biomedical researcher and we both grew to share that passion. She transfered to Berkeley because not only did Columbia not give her a full ride scholarship which she deserved by merit. The attitude was why bother to study to get an A when you can party and get a B. I confirmed the same observation when I visited the school. Reading these reviews about Lowell i feel like I belong. Sometimes I don't always feel like I belong and i have been wasting mucho hours on FB trying to connect to little avail* so far. I am going to post this review about Lowell and want Lowell parents to take pride in what they have. I want to stir up some controversy in the city about the educational system.There are public high schools like Lowell across the country fulfill solid values we need to make society work. Let's show those private schools what we're made of as a Lowell community. I find it strange that the reviews on the most expensive private school in the city are barely cogent. The Lowell team means alot to me personally even now. I read about someone mentioning Harvard and I would caution that Harvard's academic achievements are behind the times. Harvard is relatively moded and you shouldn't base your self worth on an acceptance letter from them. Private school elitism is plaguing the educational system. The real reason why I didn't continue with Lowell one main factor I was exhausted from taking the Muni at the end of the day. I just wrote something better but yelp didn't seem to save it. read more

Pulling all-nighters to work on projects, trying to stay awake in Dr. Hill's class, "running" the track for Mr. Axt's class, and outlining a million chapters (in cursive!) for Da Rosa's class beat the harsh reality of being an adult. I MISS LOWELL SO MUCH. read more

Currently attending this supposedly wonderful educational institution. It. Is. Pure. Hell. Like a previous poster mentioned. "1. The students are what make this school great. Most of the teachers don't teach and they have Nothing to do with the students' success" How true this statement is. You may run across a great teacher, perhaps even be lucky enough to have one every semester, but basically LOWELL TEACHERS DON'T TEACH. It's pure crap to sit through class, listening to Lowell teachers talk about the most RANDOM topics, from family to outter space to parties. Then at the end of class, give the assignment of reading chapter 19 and answering sections 1, 2, and 3 etc. It's basically a place where an ability to self-teach and learn by reading is very valuable. Don't attend expecting a sparkingly educational experience, the value of this school is based on the students attending, who all had high GPA's in middle school of course, so their interest in academic acheivement is only heightened by attending Lowell, (which has the ego inflating reputation based on pure statistical information) therefore elevating the schools reputation. Let me take these few lines to repeat that the reputation is based on STATISTICAL INFORMATION. High test scores, AP passing rate, Graduation percentage. That's it. The quality of education at Lowell is not a great one. Yet, in a different perspective it does prepare you for college with all the self learning. However I would feel it wasn't such a waste of time if some of the teachers actually lectured as college professors do. Everyone is obsessed with grades here. The hottest topic is what was on the AP Gov/Environmental/Calc/US test. The library is always full... of people... socializing... which means they are not studying.... which means that this is a school where one of the main hangouts is the library... which is very annoying for people who actually have work to do... who get prevented from entering the library by the librarians. If you're speculating sending your kid here because of the REPUTATION, think LONG LONG hours about this decision. It is a school with a good reputation based purely on the fact that everyone here IS actually BOOK smart (However I've met some of the most socially inept people of my life. It's probably the only school where people get pushed, shoved in the hallways and no fights ever break out and little to no eyecontact will be made with 50% of the people, who walk with their heads down. ) so they can test well. People at Lowell will study hours and beyond, and in a HIGH HIGH number of cases for the slackers, cheat/copy their way through Lowell from the ones who actually do the work. If you're a highly competitve person who enjoys studying long hours to receive a B (or days to receive an A, unless you cheat like 75% of the people I've met)) or a smart person who is interested in joining some kind of team (therefore being exempt for a lot late afternoon classes) this school is FOR YOU. Otherwise, if you're an average person who wants to enjoy your high school years before entering college and then being thrown into the real world, Don't attend. Go to Wash or Lincoln. Seriously. One of my friends from Wash is ranked in the top 10% of the school. One weekend I stayed over, looked at all her homework in AP english, and it was stuff I went over in FRESHMEN year at Lowell. In the words of Charlie Brown, Good Grief!, not because it was sad that the work was so easy, but damn, if I went to Wash I could be in the top 5% with no problems instead of the bottom 40% at Lowell, working like a dog. Ironically, a large amount of Lowellites end up attending City or SF state because of the competative nature of the school. So if you attend here expecting to get into a UC easily... just don't. Unless Davis is your dream school, since Davis is pretty famous for being highly populated with Lowell graduates. Thank God I only have one more year to suffer through. Wait. One redeeming thing I can say. I have learned a BIG skill here. The art of procrastination. Which has helped me become highly accustomed to working under pressure and time constraint and also very adept at the skill of bullshitting. Yes. All things that I hear are very helpful attributes in the business world. read more

My immediate reaction is "Awwww!" I'm class of '04. I was on cross country and track, and then Song, in that order. Those of you that went to Lowell will know as a Song girl, I did NOT sing. I'd have to say I pretty much LOVED lowell-the dances, the scheduling system, the classes, the AP teachers, and the multi-cultural days. First and foremost, this is a COLLEGE PREP school-don't except to be treated as if you were going to work at the local McDonalds forever. You'll be taught to act as smart as you are, and demonstrate how smart you think you are-both very good real world lessons. That said, I breezed through lowell. I did some, if any, homework and always procrastinated studying. I never took an SAT prep course and did well on it (before they changed it in 2005). I got a 1340. Also, I developed social skills from being around so many people from a different ethnicity than my own (I'm caucasion and a majority of students are asian, a large number of half asian half white). Now let me set the record straight-yes us Lowellites are SMART and do well on standardized tests, but don't let that fool you when it comes to sports and social events. We had the BEST dances in town, and we had them almost every month. Also, when I was a junior our football team won the championship against Wash at Turkey day! So parents, do your pockets a favor and keep your kids in public institutions! read more

I graduated in 2007. Thinking back on the times when I attended Lowell, I definitely do remember the challenges, tears, and just scraping to get by moments, but I also remember my friends (even today) and all cool projects and activities I did during my four years there. There were amazing teachers that made the class engaging, fun, and definitely inspiring. Of course, with many teachers that actually care and prepare students to move forward, there are some that also don't quite care as much and teach the course in somewhat...unfair and biased ways that would often leave a student either crying or just giving up with their academic pursuits. And, being the unconventional Asian student I am, I made my life the way I want to at Lowell. That is to say, I had fun, joined fun activities and nonacademic afterschool clubs, and never forgot that I was a teenager. Of course, I also worked hard in my classes, but never as seriously as most of my other fellow classmates. It is not about conforming to "you need to take 10 AP courses in order to succeed in life and get into (stanford, berkeley, harvard, yale, MIT, etc. etc.) " or joining as many academic clubs as possible to have something impressive to write on your resume. Sure I've had my bad share of teachers, and yea, sometimes I may not get that A or B I really wanted and even (oh shocking!) got a couple of C's, which is extremely, I guess, detrimental to a typical Lowell student. To be honest, one of largest problems I had with Lowell was not the teachers, but the students. GET REAL! I've seen some kids in my class cry and break down over a B+ as I stand next to them holding a C paper. Did I think my grade was something to worry about and sought to improve? Yes. Did I stress over it? Maybe a little. Was it the end of the world? HELL NO. But what about the student next to me blubbering away? I wonder what she was thinking? I also forgot to mention that Lowell, despite not really being a psychologically safe environment did make me feel physically safe. I never have to worry about gang violence, fights, or other harm coming to Lowell. We have security guards for their intended use, which is to keep other people out, and not worry about their own student outbreaks (like other unnamed high schools I know in San Francisco). The school (in my day) pretty much only accepts the top 10% of students from middle school and they expect that professionalism. I never had an any unpleasant experiences in the classroom with students not bringing in their homework or giving teachers any trouble. It was simply not tolerated, and yes. You will be kicked out if your grades drop below a certain point. Tough luck if you can't handle, but that's the professionalism the schools expects to get and the same professionalism they expect to graduate. Again, Lowell was great, but that's because I made my experiences great. I had fun because I prioritized my fun. I prioritized my health, both physically and mentally, and I didn't let any slippage in grades bother me, but encourage me to do better. Lowell has a great opportunity of clubs. There were over 70 different ones when I was attending. If there wasn't a club that fitted your own interest or hobby, then Lowell gave the opportunity for students to start their own club (as long as it followed the school guidelines). I loved Lowell's modular system, spirit rallies, school festivals and activities. The rigorous academics was great because it not only challenged me, but prepared me well to face college, graduate, and enter professional school. read more

After 4 years of hard work (having fun doing it, of course), 3 & 1/2 years looking for the least strict teachers, two more San Francisco Giants World Series championship, one Golden State Warriors NBA championship, 20 semesters of AP classes, 11 AP exams, 2 SAT tests, 3 months of filling up UC admission application, 2 months of filling up FAFSA, 2 proms, 4 winter balls, a senior boat dance, and two long nerve wracking weeks at the end of March, my son is finally off to college. My son was lucky enough to get accepted by UC Berkeley and we are so proud of him. He is going to his dream school and he's only a 40 minutes drive from home. What a bonus! His GPA and SAT score were right at the UC Berkeley admission average. And since he didn't travel to Sudan to help at the refugee camps or join the research team to find the cure for Alzheimer's disease, I think it was the 20 AP classes and the good AP exam scores that propelled him into Berkeley. I would recommend, if you can handle it, take as many AP classes (and AP exams) as possible during your sophomore, junior and senior years. It will not only make your college application look better and prepare you better for college, my son already received a whole semester worth of course credits that satisfy some of the UC Berkeley graduation breadth requirements. During the freshmen orientation four years ago, Principal Ishibashi said the four years at Lowell would be the best four years of their lives. But with my own experience (class of 74 at Berkeley), from what I've seen and what my son has told me, the next four years at Berkeley will be the best four years of his life. Sorry, Principal Ishibashi. My favorite part for the past 4 years would be the time when I was waiting to pick up my son at the end of the school day. I was surrounded by the best, the finest and the brightest. Creme de la creme. Maybe I was standing next to another future Governor, a Nobel Prize winner, a heart surgeon or an CEO of a Fortune 500 company. My son finished his senior year with 8 more AP classes, including AP Physics C and AP Calculus BC, the two more difficult courses offered at Lowell. But if it was stressful taking those courses, he didn't show it. He still found time to be a teacher's assistant, a paid lab assistant after school, participate in a few code day and hackathons, do some community volunteer work and play at different bridge clubs in the Bay Area. And a big "thank you" to all the volunteers at the VICCI center. They coordinated all the campus visits of colleges and universities plus financial aid and scholarship seminars. When it comes to the skyrocketing college tuition, us the parents need all the help we can get. Each school year there are two spirit weeks, when students wear different outfits according to the theme of the day. I think it's a nice diversion from their hectic school work. Students would have pajamas on on Tired Tuesday and wear aloha shirts (or a hula skirt if you're brave enough or you've lost a bet) on Waikiki Wednesday. Others include Westside Wednesday (49ers, Giants, Warriors gears), Twin Tuesday (wear the same outfit as your buddies), school color day, Plaid Thursday and tie dye day. One last thing: I would never get over the fact that because of tight scheduling, students are allowed to eat in classes. Some teachers allow them to eat only the first 15 minutes but some will let them eat from the beginning til the end. It's amazing. And it's not just a little cracker, chips or an apple. It could be a full course lunch. So eating sushi, chow mien, or pasta in pajamas? In a classroom? How cool is that? Farewell! Lowell High School, one of the premier education institutions in America. I'll always have fond memories of you. read more