South River High School

201 Central Avenue East

School District

Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

public

School Map for Anne Arundel County Public Schools

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 parent on February 27, 2022

South River is an excellent school regardless of whether your children are in STEM or not. The STEM program admission (and all other magnet program admissions in AACPS) are purely lottery based. No school in AACPS is pulling high achieving students from other clusters to boost their test scores. It’s not like how magnet program admissions work in Montgomery County. It’s true that STEM students are required to take two AP classes in their curriculum to graduate and that that could be influencing the high AP participation rate at SRHS, but all students at the school have access to AP courses, not just STEM students. This school has very dedicated teachers and very welcoming community. I agree that SRHS not being racially or socio-economically diverse is a huge con, and that sometimes the product of that is a school where some instances of racism are more likely to go unchecked, but most of the students are friendly and not racist at all. There were some incidents at the school two decades ago that gave the school a reputation for being “racist,” but SRHS has come a long way since then.
Submitted by other on June 01, 2021

Two boys graduated from there about four years ago. SR provided an excellent education in many areas including STEM classes and AP course in other areas such as English, literature, math. Many friends of theirs were afforded very good education. All were prepared for college level courses and did well. Mine did well in college and graduated with degrees in difficult areas such as engineering. So, for good students, SR serves them very well.
Submitted by parent on May 01, 2021

This school has a "top" reputation that is not deserved at all. The AP participation and pass rate helps this school place high in rankings, but that's because this school buses in high-achieving students from other school clusters for their STEM magnet program, and those students have to pass AP Human Geography and Calculus. Thus, the STEM students are artificially inflating the AP stats for the rest of the school. The standardized test scores at this school (especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds) are shameful, and this school should not be ranked as high as it is. if your child is lucky enough to get a spot in the STEM program, I suppose it's okay, but otherwise this is a mediocre school. This school is horrible at handling bullying and racism as well. My child was bullied and I met with administration three separate times regarding the matter, with the admin promising to fix the issue each time. The issue never resolved. We are pulling our child out and moving them to a private school next year. The only thing this school has going for it are many of their amazing teachers.
Submitted by other on March 31, 2020

Probably one the worst experiences of my entire life in a place where I have never felt so UNwelcomed. It nearly ruined my childhood.
Submitted by parent on November 23, 2014

South River High has a great academic record, test scores and in my opinion does more with less. What do I mean, the average per capita income of student family is low compared to Broadneck and Severna Park, but the scores coming out of this school are consistently close to those schools.
Submitted by other on December 23, 2013

I went to this high school my 9th grade year. I am now a senior at Arundel High School, (South River's rival school). South River was okay, but at the same time, it could have been a lot better. This school has a lot of potential, but the students and school staff don't live up to it. A lot of the students skip school, etc. They are amazing smart kids, and I loved them, but they made bad decisions. At Arundel, the environment was better because all of the students engaged in classes and the students are challenged. The school also lacks good diversity and has mild racism.
Submitted by student on December 12, 2013

This school is garbage. Being a student, there are many intimidating people, drug addicts, and fights. There are a few teachers more than familiar with drugs, and they don't listen to the students, and do not teach, only giving us the work to get through the curriculum. The class is 80 minutes long, most days we spend the entire time on one subject, nobody is willingly or seemingly capable of learning. Many even give the teachers a hard time, just for doing there job. The teachers aren't quite bad, there is just more to be wanted from them. They don't really go into individual needs, and get frustrated with the entire class being obnoxious, and opt to punish the class in an unsatisfactory way. Also, there is too much social interaction with the work. I like to work alone, and many teachers force you to interact with other students on a subject easily learned on your own. Homework is too much. We spend 80 minutes in a class, far too much to do the same exact thing many times over once we get home. This school is not one I support, want to be in, or care about being in. In fact, I am not in the yearbook for the 2014 senior class, nor do I want to be.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2013

South River is a mediocre school at best: Teachers discourage parent involvement. Too many 'specialty' programs w/ overly ambitious, overtaxed teachers who have little specialized experience to handle the problems posed to teens doing radically advanced work; teachers most effective with tiered leave or get suck[er]ed into teaching advanced curricula. We have some smart students, but face it, we're in the boondocks. Students don't need a degree in genetic engineering by grad day. Too many advanced/STEM students feel their education is the same as standard aptitude-tiered classes, but with 3 times the pressure! They comment that classes are "useless" and have "no basis in reality." No focus on *excellence* in select magnet or specialty programs, or on ensuring students master SAT material. SR grooms 2% of students, telling the other 98% to "shut up about it." Worst, every other school in the US is moving toward full use of personal tech; SR advertises a 21st-century attitude to "ready students" for the technology-based world awaiting them, but then top-down discourages use of nearly all student-owned tech in the classrooms. Really?! The school is not yet ripe.
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2013

Great opportunties for college bound students in Math and Science. Involved parent communities. Caring and involved guidance department. Have kids there and know a lot of kids there. The sports program is a little too intense and win-centric which causes stress and injuries to student athletes. There is really a good amount of terrific and engaged teachers at this school. Have had experience with just a very few unengaged or "checked out" teachers - most that we've seen are good or very good.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2013

Overcrowded...poor administration...teaching to the test. Have never even had a glimpse of the principal nor have my kids. Counting down the days for my kids to be done with this school.