Phillip and Sala Burton High School

Greta school and staff. Bill Kappenhagen led this school to success with many innovative approaches. Ms. Ligsay continued after he left. I brought my grandson here after a less than stellar experience in Santa Cruz. He went from failing to creating a Young Writers Group, joining the Yearbook Committee, joining Puma Plus and Upward Bound and graduating and going on to Sonoma State with scholarships and EOP funding. The teachers and counselors really care. Parents, family members and students you have to do your part too! Thank you Burton High School for all you have done!

class of 2007 always puma black and teal

Not exactly the best high school experience.
A relatively small student population, ghetto neighborhood, sub-​par athletics, only a small handful of AP classes, a number of mediocre teachers (i have had, although, some of the best the school has to offer) makes this school far from an ideal high school.
This school barely prepared me for college. Going into college, hundreds of people from Lowell had triple, if not quadruple the number of AP classes I’ve had. They were extremely prepared for university classes and it was initially a very difficult struggle against them, since many university courses are based on a curve.
There were and are many efforts to make this school better. They are getting up there slowly… but for the people who get thrown into harder environments after high school, such as the top 10% of graduating high school students, be prepared for a difficult first year of college.

GO C/​07! PUMAS!

I have a fairly well-​rounded perspective on Burton considering that between me and my younger sisters and cousins, we were enrolled there back-​to-​back from 1995 until 2010.
It was much better when I went there. It was an Academic high school so they required 280 credits. That meant that anyone who wasn’t serious about school would eventually transfer out, since you needed 4 years in every subject. We also had to wear uniforms.
Since I graduated, the school dropped the uniform and the «academic» requirement. They now require only the minimum 220 credits to graduate, making it like most other San Francisco public schools. Based on my sisters’ and younger cousins’ experiences at this school, here’s what I think of Burton NOW:
— The school is overwhelmed with problem kids. They have a teen counseling program, but not many students take advantage of it. No surprise there.
— Fights are a fairly regular occurence. If your kids go there, you’ve probably hear them talk about it all the time.
— When I went to Burton, we were known for having the highest pregnancy rate in the city. I’m not sure what worse — high pregnancy rate or high rate of drug use. It’s not the school’s fault, obviously. But it does represent the makeup of alot of the students who attend the school.
They do have a football team, soccer team, basketball team, an excellent school choir (Touch of Class choir represent!) and ASU student government. So there are plenty of extra curricular activities to keep your kids distracted from all the problems that other kids bring to the school.
Unfortunately, the public school system in San Francisco leaves few resources for schools to do the best job they can. I know — I’m a product of that system. There were times we didn’t even have toilet paper for the bathrooms, and we used torn textbooks that were 10 years old. But now that San Francisco has dropped their zoning requirement, it allows your child to enroll in any SF school regardless of what SF district they live in, granted space is available.
It’s a bit unfair of me to give them 2 stars because they’re limited to the resources they have. But alas, I must be honest.
Anyhow…go Pumas!

Garbage school! I went there from 93′-95′. School is just way too packed and pretty unsavory student body. I thought the teachers were third-​rate. I had a professor named Twegbe who made my life a living hell… Absolutely ridiculous teacher.

Hey well it got to have some good points if I ditched Lincoln for this school. The teachers here are pretty cool, they’re nice, and they give it their all to get us ready for college even with all the rowdy kids. People see us as «ghetto» and stuff and hear stories that… yeah scares people away. But hey, there are some other kids here that do what they do and get into good colleges like any other schools. It’s just the kid’s decision if they want to learn or fool around. Oh yeah! Sports! Everyone is given a opportunity to improve if they dedicate themselves to the teams. [: CLASS OF 2010! Hehe. [:

There’s good points and bad points about this school.
Positives: Mr. Kevin Chan is a terrific counselor, and there are a few other wonderful teachers; especially Ms. O’Connell.
Negatives: It’s kinda ghetto, but it’s really up to the students which path they will follow.

C/​o ’03!
GO PUMAS! Black & Teal, baby! haha.

class of 1996! GO PUMAS!