Dulles High School

"I'm sharing my experience as an alum of the 90’s. This school has come a long way since 1993, where fights broke out weekly, and cafeteria food fights were a regular common threat. By 1996, there were no fights - food, fists, or otherwise. Academics: I took a handful of AP classes, so I'll comment on those. Although my friends and I weren't valedictorians, we were were competing with the top 10% of the graduating peers regularly. And several of these students went on to good colleges (Rice, Stanford, Northwestern, etc) and careers that many people deem successful: doctors, lawyers, engineers. AP class teachers: I'd say 90% of the AP teachers weren't just good, they were excellent. They displayed aptitude and care, the two most important ingredients in a teacher. AP Calculus (EVERY one of Mr. Lewis's students scored a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam) AP Chemistry (Ms Gornek had a fun way of explaining Chemistry to teenagers...and a practical way to motivate them to learn the material. Great AP teacher.) AP Physics (Ms Matney had numerous students ace the AP exam) AP Spanish (Ms Garza cared passionately for her students) Non-AP class teachers: It's a mixed bag. Some are great, most are good, some you can tell do not want to be there. But for the most part, I was happy with my experience. Sports: Also a mixed bag. There are a handful of students and coaches who demonstrated care for sports more than for academics. Some coaches actually tried hard at teaching PE and Health classes, like the football training coach who taught my health class and the baseball coach who taught my PE class. Some coaches you can tell cared only for coaching his big sports athletes. For example, the cross-country coach (also the basketball coach) rarely interacted with his runners, opting to spend all of his time with his basketball players and other coaches. While on the track team, I got exposed to the athlete sub-culture, which was a 180 degree turn from the AP classes sub culture. Two examples: (1) During down time, the athletes (still teenagers) routinely bragged about getting girls into bed. (2) During one track meet trip, while the bus was on the road, my peers threw trash out of the bus onto other cars, just for the fun of it. Complaint: The only complaint I have is scheduling structure, which was consistent across all Ft Bend ISD schools, not just at Dulles. There were three lunch periods: A (40 min), B (30 min), and C (40 min). Students get assigned a lunch period based on which hallway they were in for 5th period. I was unlucky enough to get B lunch for three of the four years. The mere 30 minutes allotted us to walk to the cafeteria, buy food, eat, and walk back to class were not sufficient. I felt robbed. Present and Future: The HS experience is what you make of it. A super plus side is that academically, the school kept on improving after I graduated. Where Dulles still trails Clements in academic success (as an entire school), Dulles is now more academically competitive than before. Look on line at the academic recognition given to the school. Most of the academic categories were awarded recognition. In summary, at Dulles you have a full spectrum of people from the community: white, black, yellow, brown....upper, middle, poor classes. And people care about a wide spectrum of things: academics, sports, popularity, etc."

"Both my daughters came from Brasil in 2008 and enrolled, the youngest in Middle School & the oldest in High School where they both graduated from. Middle School is absolutely wonderful, my youngest learned English in 1 year and the teachers were very supportive of her. Unfortunately, I can't say the same Dulles High School, where the trouble started. My oldest, not being used to taking TAKS tests, didn't pass the Math and was not allowed to graduate with her class, which made her very upset to the point where she left for Brasil, I convinced her to come back a year later, paid a private tutor to help her and she finally graduated, but the magic was lost and she felt the school was a let down considering all her efforts. Even worse was the case for my youngest daughter, a talented Choir student, first episode: they layed off her favorite and inspirational teacher - Choir, Ms.Wycoff, after that, a door in the choir room fell on her toe breaking it in half and the school did nothing!!! By her Junior year, for Halloween she dyed her hair Pink, and the Assistant Principal, Ms Tara Smith kept after her, despite other people even having Purple hair and she didn't say anything about it. That's very unfair. This woman had to find something to get her, and she did! Caught my daughter and a friend leaving the bathroom with a washable marker which they used to write on the bathroom stall. They were both sent to Ferndell alternative school to pay for what they've done, so I thought. Now, after my daughter is working and in college, the police suddenly arrests her without warning saying that writing on the bathroom stall is a felony and took her to jail! today she has to pay high fines and do community service. She wishes she could use the money to help me at home instead. Anyone can see the unfairness and that the Assistant Principal had it out for my daughter. I think that's a very harsh way to teach a lesson to a High School kid impairing a student who is on the right path."

"My daughter attends this school and she loves it. Any school is pretty much what you make of it and attitude is everything. She connects with her teachers, enjoys the challanging classes and welcomes the diversity."

"dulles was ok at first...but honestly, they pay more attention to what the kids wear than what they are learning. Their priorities are not in the right place. The teachers act like they don't want to be there just as much as the students, which makes the environment hostile and uneasy. They give a great first impression but once those students don't have their parents by their side, everything is switched around. I went to dulles from middle school all the way till I graduated and I can tell you from personal experience that I would have takeno any other highschool over this one. If you are thinking about putting your kid in this school, just make sure it's the place you want your kids to be. because I sure didn't want to be there"

"Crabtree is a terrible counselor who seems to enjoy discouraging my children. Don't know if it's because she has a bad day every time they visit her or if she's just racist for telling my children they'll never go to college. Good teachers but very disappointing counselor. They should be encouraging children to aim high, not just brushing them off when they are struggling. Some should tell Crabtree to take a step back and change how she treats the students."