I have graduated from Warren Township High School, and I'd like to share my experience. Quick thing…read moreto know is that the school is divided into two campuses--OP for underclasses and Almond for upperclassmen. Before I get into sharing in depth experiences, I would like to share a quick thoughts.
The school employes physical education teachers who are inconsiderate of medical problems and limits. I had this one teacher this year --Mr. McNamara. McNamara would install toxic expectations--grading us on the pacer test? 30 laps for the girls, 40 for the boys? Why should students risk fainting for a grade? If you did not reach the requirement, points were deducted from your grade. You might think, "oh it's just one day," well on weekly cardio days, if you did not set your treadmill to a minimum speed or increase your elevation to a set amount, your points were deducted, which over a semester adds up. McNamara also prohibited students from using the bathroom during class, claiming that if you drove to Libertyville, you would not stop to use the bathroom. Like what? If I had to use the bathroom, I would be stopping? Also, McNamara attempted to disobey school policy but not allowing me to make up physical education days--he claimed I couldn't because I "choose" not to participate. Also, Ms. Turano--another gym teacher is also highly unprofessional. She would intentionally start drama with students and deduct points for asking questions related to the in-class activity.
The school allocates their time, resources, and recognition way too much towards sports. Students in sports get send offs in the hallway, but academic clubs like science olympiad, scholastic bowl, AVANZA Chicano Bowl, and FBLA don't. You might think; "those clubs are not a sport," but those clubs demand hard work and hours of preparation.
Also, the school utilizes AI, but they punish students for using it? Once had a Spanish teacher teach us about the environment and nature and used AI images in her presentation--very
hypocritical. She was openly telling us she used AI. When I called her out for it, she called me annoying in front of the whole class.
Now, I'd like to say that the school administration, deans, and workers from student services did not prioritize student needs and lacked the skills to engage and listen to students. One time here, I was falsely accused of academic dishonesty--canvas logs allegedly showed me accessing questions beforehand and proceeding to complete the test ahead of the allocated time. While it was true that I accidentally entered the test, upon seeing this, the canvas tab was immediately closed out off and no questions were ever seen. The dean stated that the logs showed the test was open for ten minutes--however, the way canvas works is that once you open something a timer starts, which is why when I finished my test in class the timer showed 50 minutes when I took around 15 minutes. I revealed this during the conference I had, except no one was willing to listen--they prioritized the reputation of the first year teacher-- Mr. Greenberg, Business Law Teacher who filed an academic dishonesty report against me.
Now, the school administration and board were incompetent. They failed to plan accordingly for harsh, winter temperatures and road conditions. They claimed there is a set number of days that classes were required to be held--per the state requirement. Now, my question is, is the school administration aware that e-learning is an option which priorities the safety of student and staff and adheres to the state requirement? During the 2025-2026 year, dozens of members of the student body reached out to the district superintendent with concerns, but their concerns were dismissed, diminishing student voice. During the winter, one of my friends, who drove to school, also got into a crash due to ice.
The school also failed to deliver adequate consequences for disruptive students. During one of my classes, a student started a verbal altercation with me that resulted in the teacher calling security. I was later told that me and the fellow student would be attending a meeting to clarify the situation and have the chance to say remarks. However, this never occurred.
Some teachers that I personally had were horrible--Mr. Longo, who failed to answer my questions and told me to figure it out myself. He was the one who believed his "independent learning style" worked on everyone. Ms. Delzotti and Ms. Vranek--who were downright disrespectful towards me and my friends and were biased in their NHS decisions. Ms. Fischetti--who yelled about eugenics at seven in the morning.
One last thing, special shoutout to Mr. Bruno and Mr. Zaban, who are actually best friends. They deserve the world and a bonus. Both were patient, knowledgeable, actually cared about their students and would ask about their day and were overall very happy and passionate to be teaching.
