Weston High School

444 Wellesley Street

School District

Weston
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:10
Type

public

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 August 11, 2022

This school keeps declining due to a SC that continues to be comprised of parents who only want to please school administration. The relationship between the school committee and the superintendent is troubling, to say the least. The superintendent is completely uninterested in doing what is best for the students and Only rains to do what is easiest for her and for the teachers. She was unqualified and hastily appointed when no other candidates accepted the job. Think twice before moving here for the school system. Things look good on the surface but all parents here have their children individually tutored and/or send them to enrichment classes to keep them up to speed. It’s a town and a school system with a lot of money but not a lot of academic rigor. Simply look at some of the department heads and how pedestrian they are. It seems if you have enough years as a teacher you automatically get promoted and are responsible for running a department ( with no experience!) and making important decisions that negatively impact the student community. There are many good school systems out there: Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and Wayland to name a few. Do your research. Don’t bother talking to school committee members because they will just feed you some tired, prepared line. Look very closely at the test scores. Weston falls short.
Submitted by parent on July 20, 2021

Great academics, great teachers and excellent administrative staff. Very inclusive environment with low student-teacher ratio. We chose Weston High over acceptance at Exeter for our daughter who was admitted to top-notch Ivy schools. Looking back, we made the right decision and would highly recommend this school to any parent aspiring to provide great education for their children.
Submitted by parent on October 17, 2017

Top notch academics with high levels of student self-directed motivation. See the review from September 7th, 2016. I agree with it 100%. Couldn't express it better.
Submitted by parent on March 29, 2017

This school was once great, top notch. the reasons for the decline in strong stats, matriculations, student happiness, parent involvement is due to the nepotism that was fostered by the former superintendent of schools. Hiring and promoting inexperienced and pedestrian staff for high level admin positions has taken it's toll. The decision to hire an outside superintendent has again been rebuffed so nothing will change. The school committee and the superintendent's office is not concerned with improving the schools but with keeping their positions intact, at all cost. We need a NEW School Committee (with all current members resigning) and a NEW superintendent from OUTSIDE with leadership experience in making tough decisions. This entire school lacks any real leadership.
Submitted by student on March 27, 2017

Not great. The admin does not seem to be able to rate to teens. The teachers can be dogmatic and negative on their approach to student advancement and freedom to choose.
Submitted by parent on September 07, 2016

This is simply a great school. Low ratings and comments are indicative of the ultra-high expectations that the town and residents have for the students, school, teachers, administration and their performance and are not really comparing to other schools. Parent involvement is uniformly very high with many options for enrichment and tutoring. I and my children have personally lived in several school districts and attended many schools across the country and this is simply the best I have ever seen - by far. Unlike many, this is not a school where you send your kids to just get them out of the house for a few hours so you can do other things or hope for at least a mediocre schooling. Is it perfect with every teacher and administrator being the best of the best? Of course not - but there is continual high pressure from the community to address issues. Has the overall performance varied over the years? Of course, as with anything in the universe. That being said, there is a large core of highly competent, dedicated, and motivated teachers and administrators that ensure a world-class high school education is available for those that wish to pursue it, which a large percentage of the students certainly do. Moreover, the extracurriculars (both academic and sports) available are quite numerous and competitive (many state championships) particularly considering that this is a very small school with less than 800 students. While there are other similarly achievement-oriented and competitive high schools in the region, they are far larger with 2 or 3 times as many students. Unlike larger schools, this small size helps create a wonderful and mutually supportive community environment focused on excellence.
Submitted by other on January 24, 2016

I went to elementary middle and high school in Weston and loved every minute. I played sports and was very involved in after school programs because I had a single mother. All of the mother's welcomed us and supported my mother who worked 3 jobs. Everyone is so nice and it definitely prepared you for college and beyond.
Submitted by parent on October 02, 2014

How a top rated school with the highest tax base in the state, highest property values, highest per capita income and highest per pupil expenditure can fall out of the ranking in such a small amount of time is alarming. This school, and it's administrator's made the mistake of resting on their laurels and assuming parents wouldn't notice. The superintendent was prematurely handed her title and ruined the schools. Now she's leaving; and this remains her legacy. There is no school spirit and students are unsupported and unhappy, and most faculty and administrator's don't appear to care. The principal (who can't even make an appearance on back to school night) cares only about the teachers and won't advocate for a student, no matter the reason. This school keeps promoting unqualified faculty (some with very little experience) to higher administrative positions, while manipulating the process so as to avoid outside hires who may actually improve the school. Here, if you are a town parent or a student, you're bottom of the barrel. Most faculty behave very negatively toward students and parents (especially guidance). This school needs a complete overhaul to bring it back into favor.
Submitted by parent on March 31, 2014

My youngest child will be graduating from Weston High School in June. I find that each student is appreciated for his or her individual strengths. Although my son was not in the top 25% of students academically, he thrived with the help of his teachers who were always available for him to meet with. The bonds that he made will last forever. He is definitely ready to make the transition into college life. Our entire experience in the Weston Public Schools has been superb!!!
Submitted by parent on March 26, 2014

The quality of this public school has greatly diminished. They were once #1 rated in the Boston area. They took a big stumble to #11 in recent years. No surprise to the community. The negative aspects such as declining test scores, low AP scores, etc. are blamed on the students! Logic will support that the issue is the teaching and the weak leadership. There are some fantastic teachers, and some truly mediocre ones. The principal allows department heads to control the school with no accountability, even to him. Teachers are allowed free reign and faculty dept heads work around him to circumvent his authority. This school needs a true leader who supports STUDENT'S needs first and foremost, not a host. The other issue is a very weak superintendent who is uninterested in the community. She is leaving soon and it will take a while to reverse the damage. Let's hope there isn't another internal promotion of one of her inexperienced subordinates. One can only hope the school committee learned their lesson last time. Guidance department is useless, irrelevant, horrible, works against your child. The guidance department head is downright rude to parents and students, with no recourse!
Submitted by parent on March 29, 2013

Parents and the students ensure this school stays in the rankings. A handful of outstanding teachers that really shine but the Teacher's Union protects the bottom of the barrel and they seem to have quite liberal sick leave. Principal is trying to make it more personal but it still reminds me of an assembly line. Many requirements that are not useful and lessen opportunities to meet with teachers. The guidance department is useless. Many parents hire outside help for tutoring and college counseling.
Submitted by parent on June 10, 2012

This is a great high school and I'm very happy that my child attended this terrific school
Submitted by student on June 01, 2012

Weston High School has been established as one of the best, if not the best, public high school in the state and one of the top public high schools in the nation. That's no small feat, and as a current student, I absolutely see how WHS achieves that lofty status. The teachers are, contrary to what many other reviews say, willing and eager to personally and actively connect and engage with students on an individual level. The electives, diverse and popular, add to a rigorous, challenging, top-notch academic repertoire. WHS facilities are kept modern through constant funding and facilitate a great education. Not only does Weston focus on bringing the bottom up, the top students are also challenged, with AP courses, college-level independent studies, and many other courses of action. I couldn't be happier with my high school education, and I know many others who would say the same.
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2012

This school is just like many other public schools and struggles to address any individual needs and doesn't really care about whether the student is actually learning. The language program is a joke where no one can actually speak the language that they are taking, what's more, it appears that both the faculty and administration don't care. One line report card evaluations are meaningless.
Submitted by student on April 27, 2010

As a current senior, I am afraid I must disagree with several of the comments below. The school does have strong academic departments, but the school seems only focused on academics. Sports aside, our extrascurriculars are a joke. We have 1 45 minute block once a week for clubs to meet. Other schools often have 2 hour-long blocks. Activity block, as it is known, is also the first thing the administration will cut if they need time for something. There is a growing culture of 'No' in the school, as students are increasingly restricted in what they cannot do. As a student, I feel that my voice is unheeded by the administration. If I have a complaint, I go directly to my parents, because the school will listen to them, but not me. I don't have more space, but the comment below, about the school's 'socialist agenda' is completely ridiculous.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2010

What is good about Weston High School is: The mathematics department, the Science Department,the awesome arts and music departments. All are excellent! The math and science departments are great about encouraging able and passionate students as well as helping those who need an extra push to succeed. Most Math and Science teachers are fantastic. What needs to change? The English and history departments. Weak, pedestrian administrators who don't seem to focus on the student's needs. There are varying degrees of teacher quality in these departments and this is most unfortunate. The principal is strong, but still needs to listen to parents more. I agree that there need to be fewer internal promotions. The recent ones have not been well received. We need a parent-friendly, inclusive superintendent, Most parents are unaware of decisions made within the school.
Submitted by parent on February 24, 2010

The school used to be strong, supportive and produce very academic students who were well prepared for college. What happened? Much has changed in the past 5 or even 3 years. We can only blame the Superintendent and the School Committee. HS students are being limited to classes they can take, many having to drop levels or opt out of an over-crowded class. Here is what other similar schools do in wealthy towns: they ADD MORE CLASSES. Cut back the programs that are unneeded...no matter how PC they are! Where is our tax money going and why isn't it being spent on the children of Weston? No child should have to be bumped out of a class based on poor planning or poor fund allocation. We pay enough taxes and contribute enough to WEEFC, prioritize children and learning again, like it once was! Hire from outside. TOO MANY internal hires.
Submitted by parent on May 12, 2008

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