Monta Vista High School

21840 McClellan Road

School District

Fremont Union High
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:26
Type

public

School Map for Fremont Union High School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by other on September 09, 2024

As a recent alum of Monta Vista High School, I can say that even though I wasn’t one of the top students, the school still set me up really well for college and my career. Monta Vista is full of smart, friendly, and hardworking people, and being part of that community was amazing. One of my best memories was being in the MVRT robotics club—it really helped shape who I am.That said, it wasn’t always easy. Being surrounded by super talented people was tough sometimes, and the pressure to keep up could feel overwhelming. But looking back, I realize how lucky I was. My school and my parents helped me figure out my strengths, set goals, and learn how to compete smartly while working with others.For parents with kids at Monta Vista, I’d say to encourage balance. Of course, academics matter, but remind your kids that they don’t have to be perfect. It’s more important to focus on what they’re good at and not get stuck comparing themselves to everyone else. Help them find their own path, work hard, but also know it’s okay if things don’t always go smoothly.In the end, Monta Vista is challenging, but the experiences and lessons are worth it. With the right support at home, your kids will come out more confident and ready for whatever’s next!
Submitted by parent on April 15, 2024

My two kids attended the school, it prepared them for college. The teachers are amazing, facilities are pretty good and the community is caring snd loving.
Submitted by other on September 18, 2023

The whole community is safe and education quality is good for high school students who want to focus on studying.
Submitted by other on February 24, 2022

As an alum, I will say that Monta Vista prepared me academically for college. However, if you love your kids at all, and want them to become happy, well-adjusted adults, then don't send them here.This advice extends especially to BIPOC, female, queer, and/or neurodivergent students. You will be discriminated against. In cases of sexual harassment/assault, the school did absolutely nothing. In an incident where students were found to be making a "kill list" of Black students' names, the school did little. Any "efforts" in response are lip service - students often deride them, and teachers grumble about having to teach anti-discrimination lessons. Besides, they mask the fact that the administration does NOTHING in terms of real action responding to these issues. AP CS Principles, a class that is not "hardcore" coding, was dismissed as a class for "girls and gay guys," which contributed to its perennially low enrollment. Slurs, such as the N-word and R-word, were used frequently by students, and when reprimanded for using the R-word, students called "stupid" things/people "autistic." Students told stories about boys growing their hair long and applying (and being admitted) to college while pretending to be transgender as heroes. Assuming that because Monta Vista's population is not majority white (it's 80% Asian) that it will be friendly to students of color is the most inaccurate assumption you can make - and I say this being Asian myself. I have witnessed racism here against every race. Monta Vista (and Cupertino in general) is, by far, the most discriminatory environment I've ever gone to school in.Additionally, Monta Vista is a hypercompetitive environment, which has adverse effects on mental health. I've spoken to other alumni, and everyone seems to agree that our experiences there have sparked emotional trauma. Students were mocked for grades below an A-, taking fewer APs, going to anything less than an "elite" university, and not being "on the grind" all the time. I was once mocked for getting 8 hours of sleep (rather than < 4). Once again, the school only paid lip service to the idea of mental health, making lessons and holding workshops, but they were mocked, as you would expect at a school where visiting your counselor makes you "weak." To this day, I still struggle with overcoming this mentality.Overall, you can't call Monta Vista a good school. The SAT scores aren't the whole story. Don't send your kids here - they'll thank you for it.
Submitted by student on November 16, 2021

Teachers here don't teach. They follow FLIP model, where they ask students to watch video posted by youtubers online (not teaching videos by MV teachers) and come to class and then the students solve problems in class while teachers are on their phones. may be 7% of teachers are here because they love teaching. yep, students teach themselves. Teachers just grade and get paid.Staff just doesn't care. today was a great display of their neglect. They made students take 75 minute long AMC test sitting on hardwood floor. this school can't even provide tables and chairs to students taking test. Teacher in charge of it just doesn't care. what a shame what a shame
Submitted by student on September 14, 2020

I'm a junior this year, but from my past two years and asking other people just in general, it's not an ideal high school if you're looking for the high school experience, but if you want to challenge yourself past your limits and are prepared to put school in front of friendships, go ahead. I personally don't care about being the top of my class or going to a UC (which is rare here), so I'm often made fun of because I'm not super thrilled about college or get all a's. People will jump at the opportunity to make fun of others who aren't as "smart" as them in their mind. It's quite sad what the mv environment has done to it's students, as so many of the kids who are working hard are depressed and anxious (I'm not kidding, so many of the kids go to therapy or need to go but their parents wont allow it) and it makes me so sad because all of the kids here deserve a break from the constant pressure that's being put on them, but may sadly never get a break until they're past college.
Submitted by other on May 17, 2020

I would never want to go to this school and I wish I had not. Yes I would wish 4 years at Monta Vista on my worst enemy and their entire family. This school would be a good fit if you are extremely serious about school or don't want a fun high school experience. It's more of a training camp for students to become competitive, but also snobby for no good reason. Majority of the students at this school look down on certain colleges, especially students going to community college or even other high schools, even though they end up transferring to the exact same colleges in the end anyway.
Submitted by student on January 31, 2020

My school has become a place that makes my life painful. Every time I show up, I am practically assaulted with homework assignments, presentations,, and exams that continue to increase the stress that is eating away at me. Students feel very pressured by their families and peers to get straight A's and teachers don't understand this pressure; they just tell students that it's okay to get Bs and Cs so that the students can't blame their stress on their teachers. Many students, including me, deal with mental problems like depression and anxiety disorder, which we don't have time to deal with because we are constantly working. In fact, I have 2 tests, 2 presentations, one in-class paragraph, and a test-prep period tomorrow. Welcome to Monta Vista.
Submitted by student on October 08, 2019

Awful. You'd have to pay me to even look in the direction of this school once I graduate. The teachers are the kind of people to go, "We want you to be a teenager and have a life outside of school :)" and then go ahead and assign you mountains of assignments and homework. What a joke.
Submitted by student on February 20, 2019

If you're not Chinese or Indian, prepare to feel scrutinized at this school.
Submitted by student on February 05, 2019

Let me start off by saying that I am an extremely self-motivated student that managed to pull off a 4.0 at this school. Even though I have achieved so-called "academic success", my experiences at this school were anything but successful. As mentioned in other reviews, the teachers are a mixed bag, with a larger than necessary share of them being subpar. Some have little regard for student wellbeing (as seen with the monstrous amounts of hw my APUSH, Calc BC, & Pre-calc teachers assigned each night), while others are simply unqualified for the subject they are teaching (Moore for AP Chem, Mueller for Java). NOT to say they're bad people, but there definitely needs to be some quality control, since teachers absolutely shape your school experience. The high regard with which Monta Vista is held is solely due to the caliber of its students. With the school lying at the heart of Silicon Valley, the vast majority of MV students are children of hardworking, high-achieving immigrants who want their offspring to achieve the same. This pressure drives each individual to succeed, taking copious amounts of enrichment and test-prep courses. This would be fine, if the school fostered this demographic into an ambitious and mutually-uplifting community. However, many teachers' strong disdain for doling out majority 'A's' renders the courses, and ultimately the student body, into a toxic and competitive setting. Yes, I may have learned how to work hard and adapt to the difficulties, but it was at the expense of my sleep (mind you, I hate procrastinating), psychological wellbeing, social skill development, and extracurricular exploration. Monta Vista administration, if you are reading this, students can succeed without having to complete 6+ hours of HW every day and being "motivated" by the stress of being a B student amid an increasingly competitive college admissions process. There have been some efforts to improve upon the issues mentioned above, as noted with the bell-schedule change and wellness surveys, but there needs to be more hard-pushing actions to enact the changes Monta Vista so desperately needs. I simply can not recommend this school to anyone.
Submitted by student on November 20, 2018

Utterly horrible. The teachers have progressively gotten worse throughout the years, especially in the mathematics department. The harder the math course, the worse the teachers are. Additionally, the principal has an utter disregard towards his students' needs. The principal also fails to uphold his promises from the beginning of the year, most notably his vow to eliminate the disparity in course difficulty between different teachers. Examples for the first is the recent California fire. When the AQI was nearly 200, the principal refused to cater towards student needs by 1) closing the school entirely and 2) not opening enough classrooms during brunch or lunch for safe air. As for the latter, the most notable example would be in World Core Literature and AP Calculus BC. Certain teachers like Kaufman for World Core Literature or Conlin for AP Calculus BC will drastically make the course much much harder than it needs to be.
Submitted by other on July 12, 2018

Monta Vista challenges its students in various ways. Besides college preparation and maintaining a resource-filled campus, which are effective in planning for the future, the school also prepares students to learn on their own. There are a few teachers that dedicate the extra time towards aiding their students. However, for the most part, students require external tutoring and training sources to supplement their education. This is not because of poor education material, but because like a college preparatory, Monta Vista's learning environment conveys a need for self-learning. This may prove useful as it was demonstrated by some students, but others have struggled due to a lack of necessary additional support. Overall, most school clubs and organizations are essential to join for a more well-rounded experience outside of academics, and one should keep in mind researching a few external resources when attending this school.
Submitted by student on March 21, 2018

The schools academics was overrated, the quality was not mediocre in some subjects but in math especially, the teachers lacked in assistance. Your skin color determines your treatment at the school. The treatment from students, faculty, teachers and parents was extremely awful, as a African American student last year I was singled out, scrutinized and bullied because of my race. As a African American student any time I has a complaint about students and teachers, it was never handled well and the responses were only "it's just culture shock", "They are just kids" "We always hold a bully prevention auditorium meeting" and "Do you have evidence". The teacher that deliberately used the N-word several time is still a teacher and was never suspended, instead they moved me from the school. The students agreed with the teachers racist stereotypes of black people and used the teachers words against me. I felt singled out because not a single student rallied behind me or supported me after the incident, instead they laughed at me and at his racist stereotypes. I would never send or recommend a student to go here. Going to multiple high schools, this high school by far gave me the worst experience and taught me nothing
Submitted by other on November 25, 2017

My time spent at MV were the worst years of my life. I usually felt looked down upon and felt like I was worth less of a person just when I didn’t have straight As. My self esteem was lower than ever at this school and I never felt happy there. I couldn’t even go out on weekends because of the heavy workload and there were days when I pulled an all nighter to prepare for a test of get an essay done. I actually transferred to another high school because I got autonomic ataxia from all the stress. Do not send your child here if you want them to have a happy school life.
Submitted by parent on June 18, 2017

Sincere students, pathetic teachers who hide behind the performance of students. Instead of teaching, they have an ego competition. It is a public school, incorrectly overrated. Minus the stellar students, it is filled by mostly lame teachers.
Submitted by parent on April 19, 2017

I know my children will be ready for the real world because MV is heartless.
Submitted by parent on September 15, 2016

There seems to be quite a bit of misinformation on this site regarding Monta Vista High School. The high marks it gets are well deserved, however if one is to look at how these are garnered, he/she would sincerely question the merits of the administrative and teaching staff. To get things out of the way, let me first state that I'm a former student, and though I excelled here (2 Engineering Degrees), I've realized that the image this institution has is really a facade to hide the incompetence that festers inside. Now, things may have certainly changed in the decade or so since I have left, and likely for the better, but my experience here wasn't particularly positive and thus this writing serves as a bit of a warning for future parents.In all honesty, I had TWO terrific teachers that ingrained an indelible mark on my childhood whilst there. This is 2 out of (7 periods x 4 years) 28. And judging from the fact these two teachers are STILL THERE, it goes to show that their efforts are beloved. Their names are April Scott and Scott Deruiter for those who are interested.Unfortunately however, the vast majority of the faculty during my time there served as little more than "Gate Keepers". They lacked motivational skill and relied purely upon parental involvement and peer to peer competition to get results. The end result was that that child who really "NEEDED" extra help was left behind and those who excelled were not necessarily great on their own accord, but were "coached up" to be brilliant. For better or worse, I was one of the latter ones. Similar to many of my colleagues, we had PhD parents who coached us daily on Math and Science. And if it was a subject our parents were weak in, private tutors would be hired to fill the void. Summers were spent in Boarding and Cram Schools to "Preview" material for our upcoming year thus making the actual year "easier". Therefore I ask, who deserves the credit here? I'd also like to bring up that many of the teachers were so insistent upon "their ways", that they left little room for creativity. Quite honestly, I'll be the first one to say that if I used "their methods", I would never finish a College Engineering exam let alone the SAT or GRE. In other words, they knew little else than to teach "from the book". -GREAT SCHOOL, but for the wrong reasons...
Submitted by student on November 30, 2015

bad teachers and grading. I never have fun and lost 25 freaking pounds in a week because of the stress. Luckily i'm going to dublin high in feb!
Submitted by other on November 15, 2014

beware of the post below - he states that he takes ap classes and gets straight a's. you are not allowed to take ap classes as a freshmen at MV-no matter how brilliant you are. as a matter of fact the only ap class you can take before junior yr is comp sci which you can take as a soph. not sure which Monta Vista high this student is talking about but it is not the one in cupertino. you may want to remove the post as it is bogus. also there are a far amount of drugs at the school.