Etowah High School

Posted October 16, 2009

I have four children, three of which have graduated from Etowah high school, and my youngest is a sophomore. I look at Etowah as a 'self-help' high school, honestly. If your child is self motivated, and a self starter, their stay at Etowah should be a successful one. But, if your child is average, and most are, I don't recommend Etowah High school. I have just seen too many instances where teacher's there, are more concerned about their agenda than the student s, and their welfare, and it seems to be getting worse as the years go by. Believe me, I would like nothing more than to shower the school with scholastic praises, all my children have done very well there, in both scholastics and athletics, and my youngest , though she probably has had the most difficulty of the bunch, does very well in both areas as well. But I see the constant hurdles she has to clear, and unfortunately, it has nothing to do with track! In fact, their athletic department is probably one of the finest I have ever encountered, and I come from a private school upbringing, with the likes of Marist, and such, where athletics is king. Not only do the coaches at Etowah, who I consider some of their finest teacher s there as well, with the likes of Coach Joe, and Coach Stewart, and the majority of the staff, seem to prepare the students better for that specific sport, but they seem to care allot more about that students welfare in general, which helps the student to do better in all they do!. I don t know what type of process the school uses to screen their hires, as teacher s there, but it seems that the areas of concern are always the same two, their English and Math department; this is an observation that I have come to over the last nine years, that s a good test of time. As far as advance courses go at Etowah, an extreme disappointment, the only difference I see between the standard courses and the advanced versions are three times the amount of homework, literally! In other words, the student is teaching themselves, almost as if the teacher resents the fact that the student is striving to be a better person, by wanting to be a better student, what kind of message is that!! Once, maybe it s my child, twice, it s possible, but 4 times, I m sorry, no way, that shows a definite pattern. One last concern, the schools effort, and more specifically, the counselor s efforts, in assisting the student better in helping to promote the child with the next step, into college. I have never seen more children who are qualified to go to a fine D1 school, being forced to go to a D2, or D3 institutions instead, and to me, that is a crime! I think the school and the counselor s in particular, could take a lesson or two from the head coach of the varsity football team, probably the schools best hire since it s existence, and certainly, since I have been acquainted with school! I just don t see the proper concern, or anywhere close, and I m well aware that getting your child into a better college nowadays has become somewhat of a business venture with that institution, that is almost always captained by the parent. But that does not entitle, or make it right, for the counselor s to wash their hands of the process, or of having accountability in this most important, and pivotal part of the child s scholastic career! Think about it, what kind of sense does it make to teach the student to run your heart out, for 3 quarter s of a race, and then, display an attitude that leads them to believe that it really doesn t matter how hard they try for the last quarter of it, I think it s a shame, and it sends the wrong message to the student, one that I promise will linger for at least their next 4 years!
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Posted September 29, 2009

We have 3 children that have attended Etowah . One is in College, one is a Senior and one is a Freshmen. Our Freshmen seems to be having the most trouble in Biology and the New Math 1. What concerns us is he is an IEP student and because of this it has made it more difficult for him to learn. We was told that not all the IEP teachers attend the classroom setting and our child has said that when the IEP teacher comes in they don't even ask if our child needs any help. Etowah has a policy that if you are late to class you get detention and this is why our child doesn't go to its locker. The sports has improved but if you have a student that plays then if that student doesnt get the class then he or she will have to run.
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Posted August 25, 2009

This school is the worst school ever they don't care about whether the students are learning or not. The best discipline they have is handing out detentions for anything. And if anyone says that the freshman will feel welcome thats not true. Last year as a freshman the upper classes just booed at us during pep rallies and told us to go home. I'm sorry but that is not welcoming at ALL.
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Posted August 6, 2009

this school is great and has alot of potential
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