I attended this school all four years. Fortunately, I came out alive but South Gate High is a LAUSD school. That sums it up. There are teachers who are truly dedicated to teaching but majority are not. I graduated from this school with a HUGE fear of not being prepared for college.
Most students are of hispanic/latino descent, sports coaches are average (swimming, water polo, cheer and volleyball) were the only sports and "activity" that earned any titles or wins during my four years. Most football boys have it easy and are extremely obnoxious from my observations.
The head of the Athletic department usually utilizes the money that students raise or that is donated for her preference of sports (football and cross country). I can recall asking for $300 to purchase my team new equipment and she replied "Your team does not deserve that money since the referee's we hired are too expensive." However, our referee's were volunteers.
South Gate is KNOWN for having a lot of pregnant teenagers. When I graduated school, I counted 12 young ladies walking on stage who were pregnant. Sad but it becomes worse when the halls are so overcrowded, people are shoving elbows and throwing fists which result in potentially hurting the fetus.
One thing that really upset me about the school is that attendance was enforced every single day of the year like that, the school receives money. However, many teachers would not teach or students would ditch class and hang out under the stair or restroom.
Another huge problem in that school are the TENURES! I had some of the WORST teachers because they felt they didnt have to teach since they had a contract that paid them regardless if they taught or not! If the school had to fix anything, this is what should be fixed. The new hired teachers are great! But they were always the ones to receive the pink slips. I will never forget the best AP history teacher I ever had was given a pink slip and cried the entire period.
Sad how my 4.1 in South Gate was worth 3.2 up the street at Downey High.
A starving dog would not eat the cafeteria food. Most restroom are closed due to the students making the care takers job too difficult. Locker are always checked which is sad but good! Book room people are usually closed and rude! library is much smaller but it had good stuff! Securities are soooo irritating. If you don't know Spanish, you won't understand what they are saying. I'm close to being 5'9 and they would always give me a hard time for wearing shorts but the cheer leaders were allowed to show their entire bottom off through out the day.
I view the school as graduating kids with flying colors but not really doing its job in preparing them for their future. Preparing them is not just the College Center's job (THE MOST DEDICATED PEOPLE IN THAT SCHOOL) but the entire faculty and staff. I would estimate a good 60% of students getting accepted in college, about 45% actually attending a full year of college, at least 20-25% dropping out by their first year due to lack of motivation or funds. These estimations are based of what I have observed coming back from college have observed many of the trouble makers my year running the streets which is a disgrace.
Its definitely sad to see many parents want the best for their kids but can not provide or their child does not want to further their education. This school is not a great one, but it all depends on whether the students want a good education. read more
