Stevens High School

I'd seriously rate this school 0 stars if I had the option. The administration is super disorganized, picks favorites, and focuses in all the wrong places. There's been multiple other girls at the school I know who have been sexually assaulted by other students. And the administration DOES NOTHING. In almost any situation like this they always punish the victim and try to sweep it all under the rug as quickly and silently as possible.

I'm posting this too after finding out the news that the school start time. (Which was always September 6th or sometime in September) Was changed to August 30th. And the school is enacting a new policy using "Yondr pouches" which aims at locking up EVERY students phone and basically making contact between them and their parent close to impossible.

Although I will say there are some good and nice teachers. The entire school including the administration, some teachers, and students is a prime example of what NOT TO DO. And what a horribly run highschool and system looks like.

Stevens High School is not the problem here. The problem is a principal who is at best wildly incompetent and at worst actively destructive to the students and staff--when she bothers to come in for work, which is not often. She is hateful and rude to students--during this year's graduation ceremony, she publicly shamed the students who failed to graduate in front of their families. Staff is subject to termination or non-renewal with no notice or explanation, which can end one's career when one cannot adequately explain to a potential employer why they were terminated. Frequently, her communication with staff will contradict statements made by the SAU office. Lower level admins try to do damage control where they can, but until this absolute monster is removed from the building, nothing will change.

Academics are inconsistent at best. The grading system is constantly being changed in an attempt to make it appear as though students are more successful than they are. Administration demands teachers assign extra weight to fluff assignments in order to artificially boost grades. The community does not understand how work is graded and as a result there is tremendous conflict between the town and the school, which could be easily fixed with communication and thought that is not being put into the situation at present.

COVID responsiveness was a joke. Leaving aside the issue that at least half the school board chose to ignore the pandemic wherever possible and actively worked against student safety, the SAU failed to communicate a substantial number of confirmed cases in our buildings, leaving many community members at risk of exposure. Students frequently--and correctly--complained that mask mandates and sanitization policies were not being enforced consistently, if at all. As a result, by second semester more students were choosing to go remote instead of coming into the building.

The community of Claremont, the students of Stevens, and the faculty there deserve so much better than they are getting. There is a strong sense of connectedness in the town, but it is being squandered by an authority who should never have been allowed control over this building. I sincerely hope for the town and school that either the superintendent or school board realize, and soon, that the only way to right this ship is to get rid of this toxic monster.

Very poor does not describe Stevens High bad enough. As a former student the school, staff, and school board are a unorganized nightmare. With teachers who pick favorites to, a school board focused on all the wrong problems. The grading system is sloppy and untraditional based on some online academic program that nobody has heard of. The lessons taught are sub par compared to surrounding schools. Tech is still stuck in early 2000s. Problems regarding bullying are never addressed despite several occurances between the same person only escalating to worse outcomes. To any parent reading this Newport, Fallmountain and Lebanon are far better schools.