William J. Brennan High School 2400 Cottonwood Way, San Antonio, TX 78253

"Beautiful school but not helping prepare kids for college and beyond. In order to keep the school scores elevated, they allow the students to test as many times as needed in order to make a good grade. Homework can be turned it at any point and still be counted as full credit. We are no longer in Texas and our AP Honor student at Brennan had no idea what "real" high school was. Really need to up the game on the education here."

"This high school in NISD is definitely one of the more higher quality schools in the district. All of the teachers there are very nice for the most part and the student body is okay to say the least. The only questionable aspect of this school, and I believe others have pointed this out in the past years, is the policy in which students are able to retake tests and assignments all of the time. This policy is controversial because it is believed that this policy draws from the belief that the school does this to ensure that no one fails in the school year and appear good in school reports. Having talked to several students, the general consensus is that this policy is very good for them to pass their classes, especially AP classes. Of course, for the teachers in the individual classes, grading policies and policies relating to late work vary, but generally it has been said that almost no one really fails in the classes, except for the occasional challenged student. The sports department of the school is very very excellent, and many of the sports teams have always reached to levels in which they compete with teams across not just the district but also across the state. The various departments receive many attention from the administration, and some fortunate players are given full rides to scholarships and promising colleges/universities. If sports is your thing, then this school is definitely for you. Of course, you can't forget about the fine arts. For the most part, from what I've heard from students, most fine arts are treated fairly and the growing concern of fine arts departments being limited and drained of funding is not as extreme here as it is in other schools. Some departments, such as the Band department, have been rewarded many rewards and always go to the UIL every year. The same can be said for the orchestra department. As for others though, like the Choir and the Theater department for some reason in particular specifically, the story is a bit different, as theater has seen some dis-favorable side effects of budget cuts. Choir seems satisfactory. In conclusion, while not the most ideal school ever, Brennan High School provides a very good educational experience for any student coming in, whether being transferred from another school or first coming into the scene from homeschooling. Some things can be changed here and there to improve the overall quality of the school, but the school still delivers a far better experience than some other schools in the area."

"The Academic Dean has actually told the kids that they re-take tests if they get a bad grade because they didn't study. That doesn't teach the kids anything. If a child participates in sports, certain staff and teachers give them special favors. (They can turn in homework much later, re-take tests, etc.) Other students (non-athletes) aren't allowed to do this. I have personally witnessed, through parent connection, a child not turning in homework, doing poorly on tests, and then suddenly, at the end of the semester, the child has a B and is passing. No, please fail the child. You're not teaching her anything other than she doesn't have to do the work because someone will be there to fix it because they don't want to face the consequences the state will place on them. My other child gets bullied because of lies being told and then she goes to report it, gets her hall pass and goes back to class only to be yelled at and bullied by the teacher. She has serious health issues and the teachers aren't willing to give her help, despite her IEP (leaving class a couple minutes early, allowing her to use her nurses pass to take medication as needed, etc.) She carries straight As despite missing a lot of school for doctors appointments and treatments, and yet a few teachers want to be jerks about the fact that she's sick. The arts need to be nurtured more. Band, orchestra, choir and theatre are all departments that deserve recognition and funding...but the school is cutting the funding for these departments. For the last several years, the drama department has had student qualify for International Thespians Festival but the school refuses to do anything to help the students go. The school doesn't even recognize these students. Last year we had to fight just to go. We did all the fundraising ourselves and I took my daughter, on our dime. The school didn't even congratulate her on earning the right to go. This is our future and this school is failing in helping the parents raise them. They are not holding up their end of the social bargain."

"Our son attended here in 2015-16 school year in a Special Education classroom, and unfortunately for him, he is slight above that classroom but below the next lever up. We worked through the IEP process; however, it seemed to us that the school did not follow the IEP even when asked about it. We are now homeschooling, and his knowledge level has gone up drastically and his frustration level is extremely lower. One of the best decisions that we've made."

"Coach keep it up with you Brennan high school is one of the best high schools in San Antonio Texas and possibly the state of Texas. The Dean for academics is a prior Science and Technology Dean from one of the private school sectors. The academic staff actually seems to care about the students and how they do in their classroom. Sports are some of the top notch teams in the state within the four years that Brennan has been in existence the teams football team has made it to state and has challenged the rest of San Antonio and surrounding cities in rigorous sports activity."