City Charter High School, Pittsburgh | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

I attended City High for a year and I absolutely hated every second of it. I constantly felt unsafe and targeted. The adults there act like children and it is not the type of environment that I would want my child in. For starters they don’t have metal detectors and they don’t check students when they enter the building, student got caught with drugs almost once a week. The staff there care for certain students that they feel will benefit them. One thing I did like was that they forced you to learn so I did learn a lot but it was not worth it. I went through a major depression. I was not being dramatic but this is coming from a student who went to catholic, private and charters schools her whole life and maintained good grades. The first time I ever got a D I was in city high. I have had a lot of instances where a teacher has lied on me to my parents and a lot of times when I asked for help and I was completely ignored. I mean I raised my hand, teacher came over, I asked for help & she walked away as if I didn’t just explain to her that I needed help and what I needed help with. These teachers are rude and always made me feel power less. They kept recommending that I needed medication because I was constantly moving but I am a very active person so I do move a lot, also the classrooms are extremely cold so when I’m cold in order to stay woke I need to stay moving. City high makes it to the Public like their ciriculum is so great and it’s for the kids but all their really teaching is that we’re going to spend 8 hours a day behind a desk and computer, or at least that’s what I received out of it. I finally had to leave when I was threatened by the principal (which I have recorded ) so to make a long story short I was having a conversation with an associate during group time and I said the word “retarded” a teacher who I will not name pulled me out and asked me what would I do if some had called me a Ni**a then she said well what if someone called you a Ni**er o Said I wouldn’t care both times then I left it alone, I didn’t want to talk about it with any of the staff because somehow I knew it would be my fault however I did discuss it with my parent and begged her not to call the school. So time goes on and nothing was said when I finally did say something when I had a argument with the teacher and the very next day my principal tried to influence me to drop out telling me High School wasn’t for me. Again I went home told my mother and begged her to not speak on it. Later on I had an disagreement with my principal and I brought up the fact that she didn’t care about a lot of things especially when the teacher called me the N word. She ordered me to step out but instead I was so upset that I went home. Returning the next day I was called down the the principals office where he was very polite in front of the parents but when we got in the room he was rude, he told me the situation never happened, he said I was lying then told me to shut my mouth and then come the threat when I asked him what that meant he left the room. I ran to the stairway and cried so hard, called my mother and told her what happened she couldn’t even understand me she had to call the school to ask what had happened. Next day we had a meeting and they admitted that a “form of the word Ni**er” was Said. Next thing you know we went on break I got my report card to see that I failed all my classes due to attendance which was definitely was incorrect. I had to go through so much & find proof and pictures proving that I was there the days that I was supposedly not there. After I figured all of it out they didn’t want to send my transcripts to my new school I had to fight for that. I am not the only kid with a terrible experience from this school because I have saw and I know worse. I wanted to go to someone higher than the principal but I was afraid things would get worse. I didn’t seek legal action because I just wanted out of the situation, I wanted to move on with my life.

Came to this school on Friday to pick up my child after school let out. It was my very first time coming here. I drove by the school confused to where the school pick up was, circled the block, then asked the school crossing guard where do I pull up to pick up my child in a friendly tone.

The crossing guard who is called Ms.Keisha was immediately hyper aggressive with me yelling “You gotta go, you can’t park here, it’s a bike lane, you’ll get a ticket!!!”

I point out a SUV to her that’s parked in the bike lane with it’s hazard lights in front of the school that’s been sitting there for some time and say “what about that car?”

She’s becomes super irritated and angry, stands in the bike lane screaming “I’m not letting you thru, go!!!!!” “Just go!!! Damn!”

I couldn’t just go, kids were still crossing the street at the time. I’m just staring at her while she acts out. Now she’s dropping F bombs in front of the kids without a care in the world. Just talking smack now but was too cowardly to look me in the eyes when she was talking smack.

Mind you, the whole time from my first initial interaction with her, this woman was on her cell phone holding an non emergency conversation on her cell phone not focused on these kids safety while crossing the street. I also noticed her face mask was below her nose, what’s the point of wearing a face mask if you aren’t going to wear it correctly.

Anyway, when I finally had a chance to go at the intersection I said to her “Have a nice day”, she responded talking more smack. I don’t think this woman has any idea what professionalism is.

I called the school immediately after to report the incident. Whoever answered transfered me to principal Welsh phone to leave a voice message. I left a detailed message with my phone number and never received a follow up after.

I started (and ended) City High freshman year. I came here by choice, not because my parents made me. I was very optimistic and excited to start, but unfortunately it was well below my expectations. Although the education is above average, they could not care less about mental health, and often seem to go out of their way to make things difficult. (is; I was told by 4 teachers that they liked to get me in trouble because my “reaction was funny”.) The rules are very extreme and often pointless (ie: i was yelled for putting my hair in a ponytail at lunch). Many of the teachers and all of the principals show little to no respect to their students, but expect it from us. (ie; when i told my principal a teacher was making me uncomfortable bc he stood very close and often touched my back and arms, despite me asking him not to she replied “he’s the teacher, you’re the student, he can do what he wants.”) Lastly, I had spend 5 days in a crisis center and they would not accept an excuse and told me I would have to come to school while I was there, despite the center telling them it was unsafe and not recommended that I go to school, making it clear that the school couldn’t care less about me or my health. Please take into consideration your child’s mental health before sending them to this school.
It seems many of the reviews for this school have been taken down? I remember reading the reviews in class and there were far more than there are now.