School Of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School – A Pulitzer Prize-winning Investigation of Student Pressure and Educational Competition

by Edward Humes

The pressure to succeed in our nation's most competitive public high schools is often crushing. Striving to understand this insular world, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes spent a year at California's Whitney High, a school so renowned that parents move across town-and across the world-hoping to enroll their children. That's because schools like Whitney deliver everything parents love of learning, a sense of mission, and SAT scores that pave the way to elite universities. Attending such a school, of course, carries its own High-achieving, pressured kids survive on espresso and four hours' sleep a night, falling into despair if they get a B.

Lively, personal, and very readable, School of Dreams uncovers what works-and what doesn't-at this model high school, offering parents, students, and teachers some powerful messages about public education today.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Memoir

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Edward Humes is a Southern California author, journalist and writing teacher whose most recent nonfiction book is “The Forever Witness.” His next book, “Total Garbage: How to Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World,” will be published in time for Earth Day 2024. He shares his home office with a pair of rescued racing greyhounds, Valiant and Dottie.

Reviews

[Max Shen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I am an alumni of Whitney High School

Edward Humes provides a well-written and insightful account of great anthropological interest regarding the lives of high school students at America's top achieving high schools. This is admittedly a minority of people but I definitely enjoyed it since it reflected my experiences at Whitney fairly well.

Those looking for a completely factual account of life at Whitney are bound to be disappointed, and I personally think some aspects may be a little bit exaggerated. But that's not really the point of the book.

A great read for anyone interested in understanding the pressures and lives of students from some of the best high schools in America. Those more interested in the broader problems of public education as a whole may find limited perspectives but I find this book much more valuable and notable for its anthropological perspective.

[Sunyoung · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't quite finish this book (about 50 pgs left), but I didn't feel the need to. I personally think that this book is a big exaggerated. I am currently a senior attending Whitney High School and although I am currently stressed about college apps, SAT/ACT, and school in general, I don't as much pressure as is mentioned in the book. In addition, I do NOT drink coffee or any beverage containing caffeine; nor do I sleep late at night (I only started sleeping after midnight this school year!). However, as always, it is the goal of Whitneyites to be accepted into a top school.

It was quite interesting though. I found out some stuff about the city of Cerritos that I've never known before. It would have been cool if I had been attending the school when he wrote it. Quite a pity that it was only a couple years before I started. Anyways, I'm not exactly sure if I would recommend this book, which is why I rated it 'ok.' Read it if you like, I'm sure you can learn a thing or two.

Haha I love the fact that most everybody is Asian at my school. Let's see... there is only FULL white girl and one FULL African-American boy in my class. But lately, the school has been making an effort to be more diverse so I see a variety of ethnicities, espeically with the underclassmen.

[Ilib4kids · Rating 3 out of 5]

373.79493 HUM
p13 Shakespeare, Chaucer, Bronte, Conrad, Dante

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Amelia Peabody Omnibus by Elizabeth Peters, featuring Egyptologist Amelia Peabody Emerson

http://www.writework.com/ (cheathouse.com redirected website address)
anticheating http://www.turnitin.com/

xx. AP classes are rewarded over honors, honors over college-prep, college-prep over general
xxviii .creates a powerful incentive for playing it safe... Kids who would love to take an advanced biology course do not go with their interests if they're good at math and have a better chance of scoring an A in his physicist class, even if the subject bores them.

p90 grades-versus-learning conflict
p93 good grades and good learning is not necessarily good things
test-taking machines.
HYP (the holy trio, Harvard, Yale, Princeton)
p202 You spend a whole year building kids up, ...Carefully, slowly, you bring them along. And then someone else comes in and with one careless, hurtful comment, can just destroy them. That;s the power teachers have, to build up or bring down. -- my comment: power of words, how 费劲心力，tedious of cultivating work is for teachers and parents.
p221. ..."I used to write better before Instant Messenger,".."Now I don't always remember to complete sentences -You don't need them online". -- my comment: bad parts of IM.

9231 ..independent study is gearing up. ...Literature and science of Ayn Rand's dystopian 1937 Novella Anthem. ...There ostensibly is no freedom to choose in the society of Anthem, and so everyone's genes determine their job, whether like it or not. --My comment: I like this role-playing teaching method, make students think more about themselves, not judge by people or society who think who they are, but by their own values.

p282 ... they decry the notion they sense is lurking behind Bush's criticisms-the idea that school should be made easier, more entertaining. The problem, as they see it, isn't that school is too boring or too hard, but that too many young people are unwilling to work and extend themselves to master difficult subjects. Too many kids--and parents and teachers -- have low expectation, they say. They should be urged to reach higher, not settle for less.
-- my comment: high expectation is really good for students according some psychological study. and I agree that students should be set to high expectation.

upperclassman <美>高年级学生, underclassman n. <美>大学一、二年级学生

plagiarism http://turnitin.com/

Google search info:
Rank #9
International School
445 128TH AVE SE
BELLEVUE, WA 98005
Bellevue School District

22:1 Larger than National Avg
547 Students /25 Teachers

Rank #27
Whitney High School

[Julie Shin · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the year that Humes spent at Whitney High School (WHS) researching for "School of Dreams", he wrote a decent novel that captured a part of the essence of WHS at that time. I attended this high school as a part of the graduating class of 2003. Although Humes made a great effort to tell the stories of students at a "top ranking high school", I think he missed the main point. I couldn't help but to feel very unsatisfied upon finishing the book in 2003.

However, during his time that Humes was researching at WHS, he was generous enough to provide after school personal statement seminars for high school seniors. I remember hearing that he really liked a personal statement of a student a class above mine. Curious to find out the topic that the student had written on, I asked around and found out that she had written about her SAT test taking experience. This confused me quite a bit since he had advised juniors and seniors to try avoid writing about two specific topics since the rest of high school seniors in the nation would be writing about the same topic which were: 9/11 and SAT's.

What had made this particular student's personal statement so outstanding then if she had written about such a common topic? Although, I probably won't do her personal statement the justice that it deserves, she had written about how she had been so nervous about the SAT's the morning of that she had forgotten to bring any materials like pencils erasers to the test site. Luckily, the person seated next to her was gracious enough to lend her a pencil. Then as she was taking her test, she realized that she had to erase her answer on the test form with no eraser to erase with. With some quick thinking and perhaps some panic to help her come up with a viable solution, she economically resorted to using one of the rubber bands, originally intended for braces, to erase her answer.

Needless to say, this student went on to perform very well on her SATs and scored near the top of her class. Since our school was very small, typically about 175 students per class, she became somewhat of a role model for the underclassmen. If Humes had focused on telling the story of this particular student, maybe his novel would have been a bit more engaging, but I feel that my opinions are much more biased and critical than a reader with no previous knowledge of WHS. All in all, it was still an exciting experience to have a writer be a part of our classes and research our school and consider it special. Since when I was going to high school at that time, I could've sworn in my parochial state of mind, that a lot of high school students were experiencing a similar life to mine.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward Hume spends a year at Whitney High School in Cerritos, California. This school has been consistently rated tops in California and is competitive with the nation’s best private schools in SAT scores and college acceptances. He discusses the pressure the kids are under from themselves and their parents to get good grades (only “A”s), get into the “right” schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UCLA, UC-Irvine), and select the “right” majors (pre-med is best, pre-law second, others far below, definite not art). He shows how emphasis on standardized tests has created some top students who are lost when there is less structure, how corporate donations can be good and bad (Channel One in the classroom, equipment that is not always needed or wanted), politics at the state and even school district level can start things that sound good, but turn out bad, etc. The biggest thing that hit me is how many of the kids just weren’t enjoying themselves at all. Everything they did in high school was focused on college admissions and what the college wanted, not what they liked or enjoyed. When you hear of an AP French student who scores well, but says “I’ll never have to speak French again!” you know the kids aren’t doing it for the right reason.

[Sheila · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book examines the history and workings of a public high school like Lowell. I found it at a used bookstore at the moment when my daughter was stressed from too much homework and I thought I might gain insight into what her academic life is like (quite unknown to her mom who was educatated at a free school). I didn't find that it provided me any greeat insights into that issue and it was quite annoying in its assertions that the school was so successful because the principal worked to keep the District and the teachers Union out of the way. The book barely noted the significance of the fact that all of the students tested into the school, so the school could hardley be compared to a comprehensive public high school with a wide range of academic talent.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes the reader inside one of the "best" public high schools in America. Located in California, Whitney HS is filled with determined students, sons and daughters of parents who see serious academic achievement as the only road to success, and smart, hard-working, visionary teachers. The administration does what it needs to to keep expectations and achievement high. The result is a building full of students who think intellectualism is THE path to glory. That leads to lots of students moving on to very competitive colleges and quite a few students struggling to keep up. The stress is palpable, but the book keeps you reading.

[Carin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very reminiscent of Absolutely American, but without the military angle, and high school instead of college. This group of extraordinarily gifted students, their driven parents, their dedicated teachers, and their hopes and dreams for the future, really spoke to me and was inspiring, but not in a sappy or Hallmark kind of way.

[angrykitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok....so someone i work with told me i needed to read this book. i'm glad i did. it's really a very interesting book about how a school can work. i had some problems with the fact that there were times when things seemed to be oversimplified in how well some things worked, but overall, it's a very interesting read.

[Mr. Mullins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting view into one of those overachieving high pressure schools. But this has been done before, though I like the invidual stories of the students. Ultimately that's where the real stories are, looking at how each student makes it through their respective day with other baggage not the visible academic/athletic gear associated with them.

[Lauren Kessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Humes is smart, sensitive, observant and a terrific storyteller. The book -- narrative nonfiction -- takes place in a super high-achieving California high school and tracks the lives of the kids there. An eye-opener.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished the Saturday class, so I didn't really finish this book.

But from what I read, it seemed ok. Talked about Whitney's accepting process and the lives of a few staff and students and described the way classes worked.

[Charity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! About a high school in California that consistently produces 'perfect' students. Could not put it down.

[Goldie Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my perspective, was PERFECTLY written! Perfectly captures the stress of bieng a student not only in Whitney high, but every where.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone with kids - almost frightening how much importance we put on getting into the "right" college, perhaps at the expense of our own children.

[Clickety · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predictable, but very well-written and enjoyable as a result. I got some great ideas for lessons!

[Laura]

This was my suggestion for my campus book club. Nobody else was interested in reading non-fiction. *Sigh*

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

373.794 Well written account of Whitney High in Cerritos, CA which is considered a top school in our country.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! eye-opener about an alternative school

[Tasshin Fogleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hingham on steroids... a bit too positive a review. Certainly provocative. A nice detour into technology in education.

[Janet Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

this school reminded me of the HS i graduated from. the author would point out absurdities that i felt were norms. it makes me scared for my students and who/what they need to compete against.

[Carrie]

education

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wordy. Too wordy. Prestigious high school corrupted with high stakes testing, pressure cooker environment, cheating, drugs, and stressed out kids who have no lives.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but maybe nothing too surprising here

[Debby Chang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a junior at Whitney High School while Edwards Humes was researching this book, so reading this again was a real trip down memory lane. Reading it now, the book covers some interesting ground, including admissions scandals that mirror the college admissions scandals in the news, parental involvement in education, pitfalls of standardized testing, and stress on kids leading to drug use, cheating and mental health issues. I do think that he skimmed too lightly over some of the deeply influential cultural issues at play at a predominantly east asian immigrant/2nd generation-filled high school. The artistic aspirations of certain students was also focused on too repetitively.

[Tiffany Mathews · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on how one particular version off the American Dream plays out in high schools. It makes me wonder what has changed in the last 20 years.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating, but I did grow up in the Cerritos area.