(Update from recently emoved Google review) This is a long review and will change from time to time, but... Reflecting on my time from this high school, I have to say that I have mixed feelings, leaning more towards negative over time. Even though I made some to a lot of friends, a lot of other people made me feel quite uncomfortable with their assertion, unwelcomeness and unpleasantness. Even the teachers and staff were not the best at helping with me with my issues at times, with a counselor named Beltramo outright excusing a bully when they were hitting me quite hard despite me not doing anything to them. Now the teachers were not the best with how they handled students, with Centeno not being a pleasant experience, even if she got a little better later on before leaving her class. She always yelled and screamed in front of my ears when I made a small error when having a pencil instead of a pen, yelling "PUT THE PENCIL AWAY!" and also being quite short tempered whenever I didn't meet her expectations. But she was not the only one who made my studies and experience worse. Of note who made my experience worse was a former teacher named David Long. Although I tried to clear up an altercation with him, he was telling me that "people who wear black like you are troublemakers, unlike me". When I tried to tell former Principal Bill Sarty about what happened, he told me "don't take too long, kid" and then refused to update to me about Mr. Long after our conversation where I didn't become punished. One other was Librarian Patricia Pelfrey. Even long after I stopped making jokes in the library for a short while, she was unpleasant and surprisingly rude to me. Whenever I talked to her, she was being quite demanding and unsettling, telling me to "hurry up" and insulting me behind my back. She was quite short-tempered to me, despite giving her my gratitude and thanks long after I ceased my jokes around my friends in the library. Rest in peace to her, no one has to go through what she went through, but my criticisms have nothing to do with her passing or prior condition. Regardless, I did not have a pleasant experience with her at all, but I also hope her family is doing well. Not all of it was bad, even if it does outweigh the goods. A few of the staff, especially the attendance staff and a sweet lady into Spider-Man, gave me great life lessons that not everyone must be liked, not even some good people. And a lot of friends were fun, even if some of them were shortlived or even former friends that ended poorly. I especially had fun times with Gard, one of my favorite teachers who was quite resourceful and kind. And Yu, my all time favorite despite not starting well due to her initial unpleasantness that turned into genuine friendship. And I want to add one of the most important events that traumatized and psychologically scarred me, was about one classmate. After she ignored my apology about being furious at her and her friends in gym, she not only sexually harassed me about my "size" at one point, but when I criticized her about it she gaslit me into making me think that I'm making things up. That is why I hate 2016 & 2017, and I had to deal with some friends and family tell me that I'm "freaking out" and "stop feeling traumatized!", feeling minimized and underneath a lot of people. As a result, awful moments like these shattered me and ruined my perception of reality for years to come. And this happened 10 years ago, so is it really my fault for having trauma and still having thoughts about them for this long? In general, even though I tried to look on the bright side and find some positives, I believe the flaws outweigh the goods. It was not a great time to be in, especially after these moments plus a few grand tragedies with my former friends, to the point that it changed me forever for the worse overall. I'm sorry, family, I know I can look at the positives but that mindset minimizes what I've been through. Even if others had it worse than me, these are my experiences and they were not as pretty as one might think. read more

It's an ok school. Just like any school it has its how and downs. But the staff does not understand their own Rules of 85 or how to properly apply it. read more

See all

I went to this high school, and both my kids have gone here. Class of 2004 here. The school seems to have had a lot of upgrades to it, as is expected after so many years since my attendance. The library is definitely a great addition considering the one we have was a third of the size. There have been quite a few other improvements as well, but the bones of the original school are still there. As far as the staff goes, it's a 50/50 toss up. You have some teachers that are doing well by their students, and some that are just petty. You have some counselors who seem to take an active interest in ensuring a child is on the right path for their future, and then you have the ones who are taking actions that affect your child's record. Discrimination seems to be commonplace with the staff. At least that's how my child and I have felt. I'm leaving a review because there is an issue with how things are ran. My child gets sick often because autoimmune issues run in the family. Every time he is sick I notify attendance. As of now, I have received multiple letters stating my child is chronically absent, and the whole blah blah about how it affects grades. My son's grades are excellent, because even when he is sick, he gets his work done. He is also in AP classes. His grades in fact are NOT suffering. First off, it is posted in each classroom that if you are sick, to stay home. But if you follow this guideline, you get threats in the mail about possible legal action. So their rules contradict themselves. Now, any time my son is sick, a doctor's note is required. Doctor's can't stand when a child is brought in every time they are sick, just for a note. Not everyone has the ability to get a same day appointment, and urgent care is another problem. I myself am disabled, so it's difficult just to get out and run around trying to find a place to get my child a doctor's note. Not only does the staff at this school discriminate, they don't uphold their own rules. If you want children to stay home when they are sick, then don't send letters home when they are excused. It seems as if they think I'm just keeping my child home just to skip. I could understand if my child was actually struggling. But he isn't. The grades prove it. The classes he is in and upholding, prove it. His ability to participate in extracurricular activities, prove it. What it comes down to is this, I'm not the only parent having this issue. So this is a problem with the institution, not the kids. Yes there are students that are skippers and who are failing, my child isn't one of them. To send these letters home and labeling him is affecting his record, which both he and I have a problem with. Especially considering he is going to be applying to some big colleges, required for his particular career field. Something needs to change, clearly. Even if it means all the parents and children being affected by this have to start having a voice, and bring it up at a board meeting. End the stigma with chronically ill people and stop discriminating against them. It's the schools job to make sure my child meets requirements and graduates. My son is doing his part, the school seems to be doing what they can to tarnish his name. I've made attempts to contact the principal in the past about matters, but never have I received a response. If your child will be attending this school, keep records of everything. It will help you in the long run. read more

I don't really like this school because there is a lot of bullying and my son got expelled for defending himself. Don't send your kids here. And for all the diversity you hear the hard r left and right from kids to teachers. All they care about is their athletes. Btw Im the principal nephew so take it for what you want read more

Vanden High is a generally well-regarded, mid‑size public high school in Fairfield with solid academics, extracurriculars, and a diverse student body. Campus improvements and support services are definite pluses. On the flip side, some rules enforcement issues, mixed athletic parent experiences, and concerns about student supervision and math outcomes might be drawbacks to keep in mind. read more

If I could give the staff, parents and students a negative 5 stars I would. When you are the host to another team you need to be more accommodating and welcoming. Their parents were flipping off and cussing at my 7 year old son because he was sitting in our own student section. This was disgusting and they should be embarrassed to have parents act in such a manner towards children. Do better Vanden staff, parents and students. read more

I've only been to a handful of schools that leave a really bad impression I mean. The parents and students at this school are as ghetto as they come. read more

THIS SCHOOL IS AMAZING!!!!! The football ball team is the greatest!!! I went here for 3 years no problems.

I remember taking the bus to school one morning and there was a dead horse in the grass next to the baseball field. That's because Vanden High School is located in the cuts of Fairfield across from the Clorox manufacturing building. The horse could very well have been murdered by a chemical leak from the factory whilst a group of oblivious spectators were cheering at a nearby sporting event wondering about that putrid smell. On the days that I had no choice but to buy lunch at school, I always had cheese fries and a soda because Vanden High wasn't very conscious about the quality of their school lunches. Cheese fries and soda were the only items that didn't induce involuntary esophageal spasms. I even wrote a front page story about the lunch menu in our school newspaper when I was the co-editor-in-chief; this was back in 1999 mind you. I think most of the student body was more interested in reading about TLC's "No Scrubs" single release in the features column. There were some good parts: we had the best high school football team within a 50 mile radius. This comes as no surprise; if you take a bunch of military brats and put them all in one place, they are bound to attack people and knock them down. Vanden High is a California Distinguished school. Our 10 year reunion was in a bowling alley. read more

My girls each went there for all four years. I would have pulled them out if I could. The office staff is RUDE!!!!! LAZY!!!!! Nasty!!!!!!!!!!!! That's from the top down. Sports director is a lazy fool, never fund raises, says it's not his job. They treat the young adults like little kids. My daughter got introuble for giving her friend baloons and candy for her b-day. Was told that not every student can get those type of things and it's unfair to the students that can't buy those things for others or themselves and that her friend can pick them up after school and take them off campus. The band is great and so is the teacher. The cheer team is ran by a students mother who made her and her friends captains of the team. read more

This school was great I attended through freshman year-sophomore year-junior year-senior year. The best teachers I Had were Mr. Benoit, Mr. Wren, Mrs. Ruvalcalba, Mr. Deponte, Mr. Ratterman, Miss Yu, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Green, Mr, Waldron, Mr. Adams. I made a lot of new friends here since moving in August 2013 was welcomed by a lot of great people and new friends here. Oh I must not forget about Mr. Sarty the best principal at Vanden and Mr. Salcido the vice principal who was a great friend to me at this campus. Hopefully this school will still be back on its ft again for the new students attending here just kind of feel very bad for this school to be mentioned on the news a lot for the stupid incidents happening here. read more

My son is a new student here this year and some things have been really great and some not so much. The office staff is truly terrific!! They started a new lunch program this year and it has really been such a mess. After a month of realizing it is not going to work, they are changing it again today. I don't understand why they only have 1 lunch period and no lunch room. Just weird to me. My son has been so frustrated some days that has not even eaten because of the lines and the sluggish system. I'm hoping they will have it all figured out soon. I know anything new takes some time to work out the kinks. The teachers seem to be fine and they are pretty quick with communication. The online grading can be frustrating sometimes if teachers don't stay on top of entering grades on time. The band and Mr. Tipton is great. My son loves the band and is involved in everything he possibly can be. Overall this seems to be a great school and I'm sure some of the things that have been frustrations as a new student will work out fine. I know this because of the office staff and principle's impression. read more

Vanden High School - Vs. Dixon 42-0! - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - Fairfield, California

I attended VHS 1965-66, right after it was built. I was a beautiful campus in the middle of a large field just outside the fence of Travis. There was the grade school at the top of the field by the road to Fairfield and VHS on the road to Vacaville. All the students were happy to not have to take the bus to schools in Fairfield and Vacaville. We also liked that all the students were military brats. That year California schools were ranked the best in the country and our school was the best of the best. All of our teachers had master degrees and were eager and energetic. Our books were the latest and our classrooms and labs were top notch. The campus was built around 3 open, roofed quads that had 2x6's under the eaves of those roofs. The seniors got together and during one night lined those 2x6s with long-necked beer bottles. If you went to Vanden you know about the winds in the valley, after the morning bell the winds came up and the beer bottles came down. Our principal could not single out the culprits as no one would tell, so the whole student body was punished, not with detention but with the viewing of "Nanook of the North". If you have not seen this movie it is one of the most boring movie for high school students. We were required to watch it no once, not twice but three times. I can still remember that movie 45 years later. If you look closely around the southeast edge of the southeastern most quad you can find the hoof prints of my quarter horse, Texas Kidd. So, thank you Vanden High School for the best year of school I had. read more

All of my 4 kids graduated from Vanden. Excellent preparation for college, especially if your kids took AP subjects and 4 years of foreign language to get college credits. Excellent Math and Physics teachers. read more

My son is a freshman this year and we really like this high school. The staff is very friendly and helpful and the school has many opportunities the students can take advantage of. They keep you informed about what is going on each week. The students are great too. read more