Monta Vista High School Reviews
21840 Mcclellan Road, Cupertino, California 95014, United States
I miss Adams so much!! He was the best teacher I've ever had. I learned so much in his class and had so much fun.
Mr. Anderson's classes if one of, if not the most, challenging math classes at Monta Vista. I had him for both Algebra 2 / Trigonometry and AP Calculus AB, and it was a struggle all the way through. Tests are given weekly, consistently on Mondays, and when there is a holiday (like Spring Break) preceding the Monday or if there is no school on Monday, there will be no test on Monday. These tests compose of 90% of your grade, which is significantly more than any class at Monta Vista, and is a major reason why this class is extremely difficult. Tests are always out of 30, with 1. 5 points taken off per incorrect answer, rounded down (if you miss one problem, you get a 28/30 instead of a 28. 5/30), meaning that two wrong answers are the max should you desire an A on the test. Because of this non-proportional grading of tests, it is near impossible to get lower than a 50%, even if all the problems are missed, which has happened multiple times. Class lessons move extremely rapidly, and if you are not paying attention, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content covered during classes, which'll lead to poor performances on the test on the following week, so make sure to take diligent notes and attempt to solve all class practice problems. Material on tests is often much more complex and challenging compared to homework problems assigned, and problems done in class are more up to par with the difficulty of problems on tests. Furthermore, Mr. Anderson does not post problems online, meaning that accessing problems done in class is near impossible, especially since they come from a different workbook inaccessible to students. However, there is a way to circumvent this, which is taking photos of the problems when class ends, so that if you were unable to finish the last few problems, you would be able to have more time to try to solve them at home. As a teacher, Mr. Anderson is both relaxed and strict. He often cracks cheesy math jokes during lectures and does not cold-call individuals, but be sure NOT to talk while he is talking. He gets extraordinarily mad at students who do and will yell at them and even kick them out of his class for a period of time for a one-on-one talk with him. Again, I repeat: Do NOT talk while he is talking. He is available during office hours / tutorial for the most part and will guide you through any problems that you are struggling to understand and is overall pretty helpful. TLDR: Challenging weekly quizzes. Fast-paced class. Nice but occasionally temperamental teacher. PS: The seat you choose in the beginning of the year will be your permanent seat for the rest of the year, so choose wisely.
Spanish 3 is not an extremely challenging course during the 1st semester, however, during the second semester the work starts kicking in. Make sure to READ the textbook at home and clarify with peers about the hw since Mrs. Autran is sometimes unclear.
Start studying for tests as early as possible. Put lots of efforts on labs and learn from mistakes on previous assignments
Mrs. Barron's US government class is easy and fun, with fairly straightforwards tests and projects that are graded moderately. Overall, I had an excellent experience in her class and do highly recommend her. Because I had her during distance learning, I cannot comment on her usual style of presentation, but during this period of time, it seemed that she worked hard to keep her class interesting, and I applaud her efforts and use of interactive presentations. The content covered is extremely manageable, with the most difficult aspects probably being the various constitutional amendments and referencing certain sections of the Constitution that holds the certain roles of the government. Tests are straightforwards and simple while formative assessments, like writing thesis statements and paragraphs, can be redone multiple times for full credit, so do not panic if you do not do well on the first try. Projects are easy, though grading can be a bit tough on them, especially if you ignore her feedback on them, so whenever you get feedback, make sure to implement it! As a teacher, Mrs. Barron is knowledgeable and approachable. She is available during office hours, and during those times, it is easy to get feedback on your thesis paragraphs and get clarification on any oral feedback she gave you during rewrites. She is frequently enthusiastic and sunny during classes, and participation in class consists of a combination of cold-calling groups and volunteering. TLDR: Easy and clear content. Simple tests and somewhat difficult projects. Excellent teacher and fun class.
Like all classes at Monta Vista, your grade depends on the teacher you get. Belshe is the easier of the two APUSH teachers. She doesn't post grades until pretty much the very end of the semester so you will have no idea what you got until the end. There is a TON of reading (I'm not kidding). She once made us read 60 pages just to give us a 2-minute quiz with 5 questions that were on the tiniest details in the packet that people usually gloss over. However, she does grade a little easier on the DBQ/LEQs compared to Hartford, but she is still hard.