G Holmes Braddock Senior High 3601 Southwest 147th Avenue, Miami, FL 33185

"In the 1990s, this school was rumored to have several gangs, hence drugs and violence. I cannot confirm this. However, during the mid 1990s, the school had the 2nd largest population of students in the country; only a high school in New York had more. In early and mid 2000s, when I attended there for 4 years, the school was graded C. They changed the principal from an old man who focused mostly on sports, to the current pricipal who said the new goal would be to attain academic excellence. However, the positive change that would eventually come took over a decade to achieve. During this time, before school budgets were severely cut after the Great Recession of 2007-2008, there were incredible opportunities available for those who wanted it. The twice-per-year theatre productions were often compared to be as great as a Broadway production. Every sport imaginable was available: beside the regular football, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, gymnastics, ballet, water polo, swimming, etc., there was also teams for archery, bowling, badminton, softball, wrestling, weight lifting, rugby, cricket, javelin, baton twirling, stomp music, synchronized flag throwing, running, bicycling, shot put, indoor and beach volleyball, and so forth. The bad part is there was no school spirit or mobilization for motivating students to take Honors, AP, or IB classes. Only those who sought rigorous courses--to prepare for college admissions--would sign up for harder classes. Most of the school was therefore "regular" students who took the minimum classes needed to graduate and had no future plans after graduation. I was a nerd that wanted to attend an Ivy League school so I could be surrounded by "people like me." I focused on taking the most AP classes possible and getting straight As so I could be valedictorian and go to Harvard. I ended up taking a total of 17 AP classes, getting a 33 on the ACT, getting 800, 750, and 720 on SAT subject tests, and with my 6.4 GPA I was salutitorian in a graduating class of 1,013 students. That means being in the top 99.999%. I attended Columbia University (at the time it had the lowest acceptance rate and was ranked 4th in the country only behind the Big Three, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Today, however, the school has been mostly an A, but sometimes a B school, for almost a decade. It has the Cambridge program, IB program, offers every single AP class except some of the languages. It's magnet program is competitive and ranked high. It is clear to every student that academia is the main purpose of being in school and thats the atmosphere you feel. The slackers are there because they choose to but not because the school hasn't pushed them hard enough."

"I go to this school and this is my second year. All the other reviews are lies. This school is fun and they have the best teachers and staff members I've ever seen."

"Best school I have been to. The most of the teachers and faculty are amazing at their jobs at helping the students, there is a HUGE variety of elections and classes, the NJROTC (the Navy program) is well educated and organized, and it is the REAL high school experience. I will put my kids here once they go to high school. Note* Pinecrest Preparatory Middle High and other Pinecrest schools are HORRIBLE! Your GPA will drop down quickly."

"A school doesn't make the student...A good student will excel wherever they go. My personal experience with this school was not a good one. They do have a handful of GREAT teachers, administration is HORRIBLE! YES there is A LOT OF DRUGS, although I think Drugs are everywhere. Over all, I will give it 3 stars. Only have your children attend if they are involved in a magnet program otherwise its just a teenage daycare JF"