Felix Varela Senior High School

"Its a good school, however there is a focus on scores rather than the students sucess. Concelours are not the best but i hace not found any good one either in college."

"This school is absolutely ridiculous. Trying to get the attention of any staff member to assist you is nearly impossible and no staff member really wants to help you. For example, I tried getting my virtual course accepted so I can complete my graduation requirements and every time I would talk to my counselor, she would tell me she would take care of it and approve it. A week goes by and nothing. So I go back to her office to give her a little reminder and she gives me a nasty face and says she’ll do it that week. Doesn’t do it. I’m on the verge of not graduating because someone won’t do their job and refuses to answer their emails. Don’t go to this school if you want to graduate and have things done."

"I am a graduate of 2014 and I loved my four years here, Varela is an excellent school with incredible teachers and staff, they really gave me the tools I needed for college. I think they should focus on funding their performing art programs more because they are amazing and I'm not just saying that the people work so hard and they are excellent but overall Varela is a wonderful school."

"If you have the option to send your child to another school other than this one. Do it. This school is a mess, a joke, and the administration running it are garbage. I attended this school for 2 years. Take it from me. If you do send your child here, and problems arise throughout the year, you won't be helped right away without getting the run around. When you finally get to speak with one of the Assistant Principles, just hope you don't get Wendy Barnett. Very manipulative and egotistic. One day while my cell phone (worth $600) was in the possession of a teacher, it got stolen by a student. The student was never caught and the school never compensated me for the phone even though it was stolen in one of their employees possession making them solely responsible for my property. It's illegal after a law was passed not long ago for school staff too confiscate your childs property. For this exact reason, tell your child too never let school staff confiscate their property. The food they serve at lunch is so disgusting, I wouldn't feed it to a stray dog. They serve fake processed foods they can buy from the cheapest vendor to heat it up in bulk and serve it to the 3,000 students attending. The bathrooms emit a strong odor of urine in the hallways and inside you can find urine on the floor, lots of pieces of toilet paper and graffiti on the stalls. There are no mirrors inside. The water fountains pump out water with the smell of chlorine. When you pour the water into an empty clear bottle and hold it up to the light. Its slightly foggy with lots of bubbles. Some fountains taste weird. Half of the teachers in this school work there just for a paycheck every 2 weeks from the county. They don't take their jobs seriously and are very lazy in teaching students hands on. They sit at their desks on their computers web browsing for personal things while your child is handed a textbook with busy work to complete on their own. Many teachers dont enter your childs grades until the last few days of the 9 week quarter, so your child has no way of telling how their progress is for a certain class. I have also encountered teachers teaching a subject they don't know much of. The schools uniform policy is ridiculous. One example is your child must wear a uniform shirt even if they have a uniform sweater/hoodie on. So if your child is seen with a school sweater, they will ask your child to briefly lift their sweater to expose the shirt they're wearing under. If its not uniform, they get in trouble. If you want your child to attend this school, pull out your checkbook because there are piles of "fees" awaiting you. This school does whatever it can to take your hard earned money. There is a fee for everything in this school. Some students have accumulated hundreds of dollars in debt from not paying their fee's. There is more I could say but this should be enough for you to turn away and find your child some place better to get a proper education."

"I went to Felix varela all throughout my high school years until 2006. The staff is dedicated. I had excellent teachers and have no complain about them. My counselor helped me to get into college. If you have the chance to go to this school you will not regret it. I hope you have as much fun as I did."