Pinole Valley High School in Pinole, California

“We have a whole lot of extecurricular activities and a great conservatory.”
This review was posted by a student.

“is a greta school where you can find a lot of deifferent peoples”
This review was posted by a parent.

“It is the vest school we have the best spirit.we have wounderful teachers.GO SPARTANS”
This review was posted by a student.

“Pinole Valley High has a diverse student/ teacher population. Lots of participation in the school and our community! An involved principal who is supportive of the many extracurricular activities. The only school in our district that offers the West County Conservatory of the Arts..an after school program offering students a chance to further their learning in Dance, Music, Vocal and Theatre. The conservatory programs are only supported by donations and fundraisers. The board is made up of teacher/ parent/ student volunteers. Students must maintain high grades and commit to practice and participation in their field of interest to be a member. With 3 years participation they can earn a specialty diploma at graduation.Pinole Valley struggles with severe budget cuts and loss of teachers.. the school spirit can still be seen and dedication to offer the West County Conservatory of the Arts is proof that parents/ staff and students want to offer all they can to encourage kids to follow their dreams!”
This review was posted by a other.

“Pinole Valley is not a desired school to send your children too. The students run the school, and most have no respect for authority, much less a parent walking by. The classes are so loud my student could not learn a thing. It saddens me to see this school, being taken over by outsiders,it certainly is not a neighborhood school. The best thing for my family was seeing our child exit that school.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My kids go there and are receiving a fine education and great opportunities with the extra curricular activities provided at this school”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I am both a parent and a staff member. The kids at this school are wonderful to work with. Parents are supportive. Teachers are great!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Pinole Valley High School has the coolest staff and students. Being a high school in the Bay Area, it has an extremely diverse student core. Despite it's small-ish campus, it does what it can to serve it's students and provide an education. [2004]”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Cause the student body as a whole go crazy and we have teachers that actually care about the students success”
This review was posted by a student.

“Pinole has many extracurricular activities and some very dedicated, passionate teachers.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“PVHS is an awesome school because it's very diverse and the students keep it very clean.”
This review was posted by a student.

“Our marching band and performing arts program are the best (: my friends from other schools even say so.”
This review was posted by a student.

“The best part of that school is the AP US History program =]”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I thinks pinole valley is the bestest. We have the good marching band. With trumpet line that is good good. Forensics team speech and the debate is good tooo allso. I like it a good lots. You and I will vote for the pinole because we good. Great classes, good history and the english teachers are very good suberb. Okay good bye.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Need more parent involvement to support the student effort. Too many times, students are forced out of worthy and effective engagements by parent disinterest.”
This review was posted by a teacher.

“Tremendously diverse student body, comprehensive course of study including Advanced, Honors and AP classes, three California Partnership Academies and a Conservatory of the Arts, full interscholastic athletic program, and over 25 clubs.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Tremendously diverse student body, comprehensive course of study including Advanced, Honors and AP classes, three California Partnership Academies and a Conservatory of the Arts, full interscholastic athletic program, and over 25 clubs.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I currently attend this school. I just finished my freshman year, and is an upcoming sophmore. I've got to say, theres a lot going on here. We need so much more school spirit, previous rallys and such hasn't been a great success. I guess you can say its pretty 'diverse'. The teachers needs to focus on the students A LOT more, and for those who don't abide by the rules SHOULD get a penalty.Its like students running over the school.Everyday violence.I do want to transfer out of this school, but Im hoping this year will go much better than last year. The courses they offer & curricular activites as well are great. We need to stand out more in our community and district. Seriously, PVHS NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS VIOLENCE THAT OCCURS EVERYDAY.”
This review was posted by a student.

“I am a previous student. The school is surprisingly racially segregated as far as cliques go. The teachers, AP classes, clubs, and other extracurriculars are pretty great though.”
This review was posted by a student.

“The problems at PVHS are mostly the adminstrations fault. The principal was an assistant principal at one time and was pretty hard on the students and they deserved it but now as principal there is no accountability. As a faulty member I was happy when she was named principal but after 2 years of the students running the school I am disappointed. The other assistants are pretty new to the school and are trying their best to do a good job! As fast as you send kids out of the classroom on referrals they are back with no consequences. Its really a sad situation here at PVHS. I do want to say we have good teachers at the school but they,too, are getting tired of the non supportative adminstration.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I really hate this school, bathrooms are disasterous and i try not to go during the day, lunches are also gross. The students are rude, and the paents are too. I feel like my academicc ability is being held back because the teachers dont care and the underacheivers rule the classroom. If you can avoid this school i advise you do!”
This review was posted by a student.

“This school is the worst. If you can avoid it, send your student to another high school. From the administration, including the principal, right down to the counselors and front office -- no one cares - you can't get information either. Most of the students look depressed. There are fights all the time.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I go to this school currently. I would say that yes, as many people have already mentioned, this school is extremely crowded... You can't get through the hallways during passing period without getting sandwiched. The teachers don't care about the students. The security guards don't help much, since the misbehaving students somehow become the security guards' friends, and when they get in trouble, they get off the hook easily... I never see the principle going around the school inspecting anything... Throughout the whole year, I think I only saw her three times... Only at assemblies and in the office. There are also a lot of bad students at this school. They always hang out in mobs, and act gangster, like they're so cool. The truth is, they are not cool. Flunking classes to look cool is the dumbest thing a person can do. Apparently, they don't know that.”
This review was posted by a student.

“This school is pretty whack. The physical appearance needs a lot of work, and most of the kids there are trouble makers. The bathrooms are cancerous and the lunches are too. The administration could try harder to keep kids more in check, in both their academics and characters. A lot of the students are rude and obnoxious and moreover distracting to those trying to focus on their education. However, I have been pleased with the courses offered and also the extracurriculars, especially the Conservatory programs. If you try hard enough, you can meet some really great human beings (in both the student body and the staff) and avoid the hoodlums and riff raff. Overall, I give this school 3 stars.”
This review was posted by a student.

“PVHS is a run down, semi-urban school that does amazing things. It has 11 AP courses (the highest number in the district), forensics (debate) and sports teams that consistently send students to regional finals, dedicated administrators and teachers, and the only Environmental Studies Academy and Conservatory of the Arts programs offered in WCCUSD. A previous posting said PVHS was removing the Advanced English and Math classes for Freshmen and Sophomores, but the exact opposite is true. Math courses are unchanged and two Advanced English courses for 9th and 10th graders were added in Fall 2007. They hope to add Advanced World History next year. Safety has improved since 2005 with the addition of two sheriff s deputies on campus full-time. The physical facilities leave a lot to be desired, however. It s a good school if you can avoid the students who are just wasting time.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“PVHS is overcrowded. There are some very mediocre aspects of the school. Despite this, my children have been able to find classes taught by some great teachers. (Granted there have been some who were not so great, isn't that all part of any high school?) They were involved in theater, swim team, and waterpolo where they met great kids who shared their same values for academics. High school is about making choices. Teaching kids to navigate through a less than ideal situation teaches them real life skills.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Pvhs is a great school. As a student i feel very safe there.The pvh staff is very hard working and will find the time to work with your child. It is just up to your child to find the time to get help. The school may be crowded but as a school we form our own little communities and as for me that makes me feel safe and better about my school. Go spartans!”
This review was posted by a student.

“It is overcrowded, ran down, the teachers don't seem to care much about the students, probably because there are too many for them to teach well. Unfortunately, there are precious few alternatives for parents who can't afford private school tuition.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I currenly go to PVH and I have to agree the school is very crowded. This is my first year going to a public school in 3 years so I don't know what to expect. I guess you can say that i enjoy it. ALthough there was a fight on the first day it was only of a minor alltercation.”
This review was posted by a student.

“As a parent of a child that has recently moved on to college from this school, I say run (not walk) away from this atmosphere! There's a small minority of students and parents that think the WORLD of the school and administration; however, not much has changed at PVHS. Overcrowding and the administrations lack of respect for the students is still present. Very few teachers and administrators truly care at this point in time. The changes relating to the AP classes and the so called 'mentoring' aspect of this upcoming change was not a sound decision. Why should the honors students have to take on the responsibility of being academic buddies to others?”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I am a parent at PVHS and I love the school. I attended when I was younger and the school was great. My son likes it to and the fact that green day went makes it all more enjoyable for him.”
This review was posted by a former student.

“This school is way too overcrowded. The 'supervising' staff is way too lax with the students. For the 2007-2008 year, they are removing the Advanced English and Math classes for Freshman and Sophomores. Neither the students nor parents had a say-so on this decision. Shouldn't the students have a voice when it concerns their future education? The staff who made this decision said that the study habits of the 'advanced' students would rub off on the 'regular' students. However, it's more than likely that the students who want to achieve will be left in the dust to fend for themselves, and teachers will be forced to sacrifice teaching time for discipline time. This school has an excellent sports and theatre program, but extracurriculars are left to the side. If your child isn't interested in those subjects, steer clear.”
This review was posted by a teacher.

“Pvhs is out of control. Several times I've brought safety issues up and nothing ever happens to rectify them. The administration doesn't listen to parent concerns. Some of the teachers shouldn't even be teaching. There's a handful of good ones though. I'm a parent with my first child there and am a pinole resident and will not be sending my second child to pvhs.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I think this school is entirely too over crowded but the district is not trying to do anything to eleviate this problem. I agree with the other reviewer that the administration is very disrespectful to students and adult visitors. There is absolutely no leadership at this school. They focus too much on 0 tolerance instead of encouraging students to work hard, set goals and look forward to the future and most of all enjoy high school. Unfortunately it is the only school in our area.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Pinole Valley High has a wonderful theater program. There are four theater classes available to the general student body: Theater 1, Theater 2, Advanced Theater, and Technical Theater. The Conservatory of the Arts offers even more classes afterschool. However, a student who wishes to get into the Conservatory must give an audition in front of a group of 5 Conservatory students and the coordinator of the Theater Conservatory progam. The classes offered as Conservatory classes are: Beginning Improvisation, Stage Makeup, Playwriting, Advanced Improvisation, Stage Combat, Children's Theater and many more. However, Pinole does not have a very safe campus.”
This review was posted by a student.

“A very good school with high academic standards.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“The academic programs at PVHS are above average. The are are numerous extracirricular activities. Parent involvement could be higher, but it's ok. The only negatives are the school is way overcrowded, and there are numerous fights. A new administrator is needed at PVHS.”
This review was posted by a student.

“Think the school needs a better administrator. Also feel that for the most part, children need to be respected more. Don't think the administration has realized that they are part of the problem at this school. Students are respected. I've heard how students are spoken to...if a child that respects authority is spoken to in the way I've heard a lot of the school personnel speak to these young adults it's no wonder they're having some of the problems they're having at the school. Wearing a badge around your neck during school hours really hasn't produced the results that you think you have achieved. Students' identities are already lost with the massive amount of students attending the school. It's a shame that the administrator gets to know the small number of young adults causing problems, but fail to even know the young achievers that attend the school.”
This review was posted by a parent.