Cypress Bay High School

Ho-​ly ****.
What are these reviews? Seriously, what are these comments?
Let’s address some popular ones:
«Too many students»
Honey, I’m about to graduate from FIU. If you think Cypress has too many students, it’s time you did a summer program at an undergrad public university or visited a real campus for once in your life. Cypress is literally one of the best public high schools in the nation. And not just for academic reasons: it’s the most realistic «pre-​college» experience you’ll get. And quite honestly, while Cypress IS big relatively compared to other schools, a couple thousand kids in that large campus doesn’t equate to Mumbai, India either. Given the amount of square area of land and the number of classrooms available, not to mention being a public school, this school does Extremely well handling the large capacity of students.
«Not enough time to reach class»
LOL!!! You get 10+ minutes to reach your next class, IMPLYING it is actually across the other side of the school. And even if it was, 10 minutes was enough time to walk, stop by the bathroom or talk for a couple of minutes for whatever, and make it to class on time. Again, crossing Cypress is a breeze compared to crossing an actual college campus for class. Once you feel that, then come back and talk.
«Teachers don’t help you.»
Are you joking? Yeah, every school has some bad apples in every subject, but most of the teachers actually do a pretty damn good job teaching (or telling you what to study for on the test, anyway. Enjoy that by the way, but don’t get too used to it.) If your class is in the same building, then surely you can wait after class and talk to your teacher for 5 minutes to get whatever you need cleared up. If it’s not, consider coming after school or early in the morning, since most teachers kind of chill in the classroom for 30 minutes before starting. Please don’t justify these 1-​star reviews on my school because you don’t care enough about your education. Not to mention it’s high school, material that you can literally cover in 30 minutes. (I’ve seen your books, I had to tutor a kid in physics. Still a joke as always. I’m surprised I didn’t straight-​A all of my classes.)
«Hectic lunch hours»
Okay not gonna lie, lunch D has always been a bother since it had the most amount of students and I was unfortunate enough not to have some of my closer friends in that. But for most of you I’m pretty sure it works out better since you can find many of your friends. If possible, definitely consider packing a simple lunch if you’re facing more than 20 kids in line. Not worth the wait. If you truly can’t, well, I guess you win this one.
«Issues meeting with guidance counselor»
You can literally walk in and talk to a counselor whenever you want, as long as they aren’t busy with a student, which more than likely won’t be the case since very few of you probably don’t take your studies and future seriously enough anyway. And scheduling an appointment isn’t hard. Walk up to the counter and hook yourself up with an appointment. I’m pretty sure I remember them being available before class too.
BUT FOR ALL IT IS WORTH, Cypress Bay High gives you more freedom than any other school in South Florida, and probably most of the country. Despite all of the bull**** shortages, the large capacity of students, and the amount of bratty privilege present, the school dominates. I would gladly wager ⁹⁄₁₀ transfers to and from Cypress would mutually agree they’d prefer it here than anywhere else. You don’t get that «Mean Girls» social class vibe here because there’s too many people to care about what that one person did. We’ve some really chill teachers, especially in the AP department. I just can’t fathom some of these comments, I really cannot. But I guess the majority of you won’t appreciate it till you visit a real campus for the first time in your lives, like I said. But Do Not **** on My School for That GARBAGE.

What a shame to see my old high school have such awful reviews. Cypress Bay is one of the greatest high schools in the nation and I’m not just saying that because I went there. I have talked too many people who went to other schools and transferred to Cypress Bay or friends who moved away, every time they said that Cypress Bay was not only better, but MUCH better.
The school gives you so much freedom, not only in the typical style of picking your classes/​clubs, but the staff respects it’s students and doesn’t enforce strict rules on everyone. By the staff giving the students this freedom, they expect the students to not take advantage of that freedom and for the most part they don’t. What results here is a well-​established relationship between the students and staff that really works.
The classes here are great with some of the best teachers in the state, many of whom you talk to will tell you how much they appreciate working at the school. There are so many AP classes available and many great electives that other schools may not offer. Through this they do a great job preparing their students for their future. For example, some very intelligent kids can choose to do many high-​level AP credits if they want to go to into the medical field. At the same time, someone like me can join a club and take classes on something like TV Production which was amazing in preparing for me for my career. Speaking of clubs there are so many, that you can find something for everyone. This almost reminds me of what I see in college. Most of the students stay at Cypress Bay after school for clubs or sports activities. It’s great to see so many students getting involved and it’s also great to see the pride they have for the school. Sure are there a lot of students, but that also prepares you for college and it can also be a good thing. Think about it this way, the more students there, the more likely you are to find someone who will share things in common with you and make easy friends.
The school is clean, safe and amazingly managed by the staff. The experience you have here is one of a kind, I wouldn’t go anywhere else for highschool if I had a choice. 4 years of great times, I honestly have nothing negative to say about the school. Please do not let some sour reviews influence you to send your children to private school. Believe it or not, Cypress Bay is preferred by many students who went to the local private schools. I only hope one day my children can go to a school like this. ⁵⁄₅

This school is way too big they need to make another school so that teachers can actually teach and help out their students Who have difficulty learning I think the public school system is very very hard. I graduated a year ago and did not like my experience I sincerely hope that they can make it better for the next generation of students.

There are way too many students! Teachers have no time to care about individual students, cannot get an appointment with a guidance counselor! The school is too big, there’s barely enough time to get to your next class in time, the hallways are completely mobbed and overcrowded. About 1,000 kids in each lunch, no time to buy, you have to bring lunch. And with 4 lunch hours, some are eating lunch at 10:30 am! It’s a disaster! A few years back there was block scheduling and it wasn’t so crazy, students only had 4 classes a day. But they switched to an 8 period day which is way too hectic with so many kids. They don’t have enough time to get to their next period because the school is so big and having to fight the crowded hallways doesn’t help. Not to mention they start 7:30 am, every day is a challenge.

An amazing school with lots of freedom. But its challenging though as they give you a taste of the real world (’12-’13)