Negative Star rating should be an option.
As of this review ---( date May 22, 2019 ) , this so called " Greatest school in America " has had their Principal arrested for a DUI and charged with also carrying a concealed weapon, ( brass knuckles .)
Sure, he had his wife and children in the car also, but it appears he will maintain his salary while facing these charges.
This school has a history of political strategies used to undermine the efforts to connect their community.
From the moment these young adults enter these doors, they are on their own. Counseling services are ridiculously difficult to obtain, changing classes a debacle beyond comprehension. If you think that the new student orientation will be helpful, think again. Many of the educators don't even show up for the open house.
Perhaps your student has anxiety moving into this next phase of their education, it is natural for a parent to want to ease this transition. However, please take this as a WARNING: you will not be allowed on campus to visit during lunchtime or check in with just to see how they are fairing. My attempt to dine with my student (despite being a known parent volunteer and former district employee with finger prints in the system) was asked to leave the campus. This was a direct interaction with myself and the Vice principal De Rosier, who would be better suited working at an incarceration center.
If your student plays sports, they might already have an advantage over all of the other students who are there merely for educational and academic purpose. This school places a higher priority on those students who can assist them in promoting a bright shiny page in the newspaper.
Maybe you have a student who is interested in the Federally funded Running start program. This is an excellent program that I would highly recommend. The challenge will be to coordinate your students time between a college campus and a high school campus where their presence is not only discouraged but frowned upon. They will have continued difficulty obtaining any information or actual face time with their Running Start liaison located on the YHS campus.
And although they will be required to make appearances at Yelm High School, their presence will be met with repeated inquires as to why they are on campus but not in class. Right down to getting their photo in the yearbook, these students are set apart from all the others, and NOT in a good way.
Think again if you're on the fence about moving to a Yelm Community school district. I'd also encourage you to look up the state facts with regards to graduation rate at this particular school, the turnover of the faculty, and the input of those who have put their children in this debacle of a system.
On a personal note. Not only have I volunteered over 500 hours within this district since 1999, Im also a para educator with two successful adult children who have gone on to higher education despite the negative impact this school has had on their lives.
The city of Yelm should be ashamed. read more