Arnold O. Beckman High School

3588 Bryan Avenue

School District

Tustin Unified
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:28
Type

public

School Map for Tustin Unified 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 December 05, 2024

This a great school I don’t know why it is rated 2.9 and this is a top 100 school in ca love it here
Submitted by parent on March 16, 2024

Today, March 15, 2024, my 9th grade son was thrown and 3 bones in his left hand were broken. by a student older than my son, the student who attacked my 14-year-old son...he is 17 and the office was very rude and incompetent in the face of the unfortunate situation, I called the Irvine police, they sent an ambulance so that my son could be treated after that My son was admitted to the emergency room and the there they support violence among students
Submitted by other on October 16, 2023

Math department teachers are only there for the brightest and gifted students, Algebra 2 Honors teacher tells that in my face " Only students with innovative thinking can be successful in my class, regular student get F in his class". Changing classes is impossible due to lack of communication. Average students fall behind and teachers are there to collect paycheck. Very high cost of living gets wasted and teachers have the ultimate power to do what ever they desire the easiest way possible. They don't release the grades till the report card is due and students never have a chance to review their tests and never learn from their mistakes. Don't fall for the 5 star rating, average child dosent belong here,gets crushed by these selfish teachers that collect our hard earned tax money. Absolutely the worst I have ever seen.
Submitted by parent on April 18, 2023

This school has been such a blessing! We came from Irvine Unified and during the pandemic we had to move and though our new address was still in Irvine our new school district become Tustin. We freaked out at first since our son was a new high schooler and has been with Irvine unified his whole life. But I always believed that adapting to new environments can make you strong. After experiencing Beckman for 2 years I now feel that the schools in Irvine are overrated and stuffy and their programs are not well rounded. and I’m so glad that we had an issue with our address that pushed us to Beckman. The AP and Honors classes have been so amazing and the Theater program is beyond outstanding! My son made amazing, quality life long friendships here. The teachers, the principal , the admin staff-the high academics but also the arts programs - amazing!
Submitted by parent on April 18, 2023

This school does not care about students. The principal blocks students from taking summer classes in a community college. Specially, students who are taking music classes and student altheletes (so no time to take Spanish 3 or 4 class at Beckman in Spring and Fall semester due to a schedule conflict) had a huge trouble. Although those students completed Spanish 2 at Beckman, the pricipal does now allow studetns to take Spanish 3 or 4 outside Beckman high in a community college. His reason is that they want to secure Spanish teachers' jobs. The school sacrifies students for the teachers' job security!!!This schools says that they care about the physical and mential health of students, but that is a lie. They do not care about students but do care about the teachers' job security only. Taking classes from 0 period to 5th period and playing matches with other schools in the afternoon is impossible, because those students have to skip 5th period many times to play matches in the afternoon!! Does that principal review this situation carefully?? Parents pay taxes and the community colleges are running with those tax payers' money. Why cannot we use those public education facilities? This is illegal. This school abuses its power over the tax payers' right to use public education facilities without justfiable reasons. This ridiculous policy forces many students stop learning Spanish. And TUSD seems not care about this situatio, neither! Horrible school!
Submitted by student on February 16, 2023

This school is amazing I don’t understand why it’s rated 2.5 this school is 10000000% better than Brea high school Irvine and many more I went to all of these schools and Beckman is the best your rate that is very unfair can affect on students college approvals we want to get into Stanford and do you think they want someone from a 2.5 school our school deserves way more than that the many people who give it bad rates are people who have problems making friends which is something they need to work on I don’t have many friends and I want to say we’re coming to school to learn not to socialize.
Submitted by parent on September 29, 2022

Culture of this school harbors addiction and violence. No child left behind.
Submitted by parent on April 24, 2021

What do you want from a High School? Strong curriculum, dedicated teachers, safe environment, respectful students interested in learning, competitive sports program, clubs, opportunity to explore the arts (music, art, theater)? Beckman has all of this. Beckman prepares its students for college and life skills. I had two children attend Beckman all four years and they received a great education, played competitive sports, had leadership positions in clubs, one participated in art and yearbook, both did well on standardized tests, and both got into top 20 colleges. The fact is Beckman provides a fantastic environment for students to thrive if the parents and students take the opportunity and put the work in. I am appreciative that my children were able to attend Beckman and thankful for the faculty and administration for providing such a quality school.
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2020

Great educational environment with a safe and clean campus.
Submitted by parent on August 27, 2020

All around wonderful school. Modern, clean and great teaching staff. A+
Submitted by student on October 31, 2019

Look above. There is nothing else to say
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2019

Average ,stressfully for students due to homework ,quizzes, expectations with no teaching . In many ways ,disappointed . Looking back ,I wish I moved my daughter to a private High School.
Submitted by parent on April 17, 2019

Beckman is a very competitive school in academics and sports puts a lot of stress on the kids
Submitted by student on July 26, 2018

Its ridiculous how competitive this school is. The graduation requirements meet UCI/UCLA entrance requirements. So, just to graduate, you need to do the same amount of work as if you were planning on going to the nearby universities. it's not logical to make students prepare for a university they don't even want to attend. Not everyone's dream school is UCI.I did have some incredible teachers, but that was a very small percentage. Many of them simply do not care about their job because they are retiring People stay within their groups and never interact with anyone new, even if you reach out. No one is looking to make friends. Not a whole lot of people move into that school, and when they do, majority are just transfers from nearby schools. I moved from out of state and was never able to find a group of people with similar interests or background to mine. The entire school is just privileged kids living in a bubble who all lack real word experience. So if you didn't grow up in Orange County, especially Irvine, or are the slightest bit different than them, then you won't fit in or have any friends.
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2018

Disappointing and I made a big mistake to choose this school for my kid
Submitted by other on February 15, 2016

Kris Prinz class, selfish teacher. Very self absorbed school and administration. The school cares only about its reputation and image. Not a great school if you want to raise a well rounded kid.
Submitted by other on January 02, 2016

This school is all about academics and athletics. Kids who don't excel at either are pretty much pushed into the background and are not part of the culture of the school. Of course grades are important and there are some fantastic teachers here who do a great job preparing students for college, especially in AP classes. I excelled in academics and had straight A's my entire high school career at Beckman... but grades aren't the be-all and end-all, and I felt as if the average students weren't well supported or encouraged. The atmosphere of this school is just like the city of Irvine where it is located - a "bubble" of privilege with a lack of real-world experiences and subtle disapproval of those who don't fit the mold.
Submitted by student on December 26, 2014

It's understandable that rules are a good thing and regulations need to be followed. We would all like to believe that these are for good reasons and not just to make the people in charge feel better about themselves. This is exactly the situation at beckman. There are many people in leadership positions who lack basic management and people skills. They are very good at threatening, lecturing and not listening to important matters. The interest of the leaders at this school are about being right, not about doing the right things for the students.
Submitted by student on September 06, 2014

It has been 3 days since my "fresh start" here & all I can say is "DAMN", which applies in both negative & positive ways. Let's start with the negatives. This school is small and very crowded. Everywhere you go, it feels like New York City - pushing, yelling, shoving, etc. Students don't know how to transition from class to class without the nonsense. Another issue is the school campus itself. It is very difficult to locate classes, since all the classroom wings look identical & it's very common for students to get lost. The quad is very small and its stage can't be seen from 10ft away. Now for the positives. Beckman has a very good diversity percentage of all races. It is a very clean and very safe school to be at. The staff are very committed to helping their students succeed. The teachers have a lot of poll and are the perfect people to go to when establishing a solid career path. (I'd say my favorite would have to be Mr. Perdue, who has worked for Pixar and other various film productions. Go to him if you have a passion for film!) Overall, this school is the perfect place for anyone wanting to career in the medical field, film or science industry.
Submitted by other on December 22, 2013

This is a brief look into the pros and cons of Beckman. Beckman is a school of high expectations. Everyone is smart and the people who don't find themselves have high grades are seen as unsuccessful in life I the eyes of other students. As a student myself I have seen that there really aren't any cliques but there are more of little groups who just hang out with each other. Teachers are often decent but there are some teachers who won't swallow their pride and actually listen to students. There are however some teachers who try to inspire the students to learn with positive reinforcement. The school is generally clean but there is a constant problem with birds flying over the area. The principal however refuses to look at the student point if view and enforces a strict set if rules where there is no second chance, just detention. Our tutorial system is terrible in the fact one has to sign up for a class. Overall I think the learning aspect our school offers outweighs the amount of stuff going in in our school