I graduated from this school in 2017, and looking back at it, there were definitely ups and downs. I have to say a large number of the staff are devoted to their work, although I admit that some of which aren't focused on being the supportive teachers they ought to be, which can impact a student's motivation for exceeding in that specific class. Then there are the teachers that make me wonder why they're even teachers at all. Some haven't given very thorough lectures towards their students, resulting in 95% of the entire class failing at tests, and then there's others that are incredibly and unabashedly biased towards certain groups of people.
The art programs are enormously unappreciated by the board of directors, as the students are given either despicable, cheap art supplies, or very little funding towards creating and producing visually whimsical plays. The choir program has gowns and tuxes for their students to perform in, but the women's ensembles are cheap and dated material, and while the tuxes are in generally good quality, the fabric is hot and heavy, which could result in a tenor or bass getting a heat stroke mid-concert. Music sheets are also tattered and torn for choir, band, and orchestra, and half the instruments are on their last leg.
The journalism department needs more love from the school as well. When I was a freshman, the Sentinel Konah was deeply appreciated and the journalists were were respected. By the time I was a senior, I joined the Konah, and the department was a shadow of its former self, and the piles of papers left in the hallways for students to read we're gathering dust. The chemistry between students in the department was tense, and the only thing that kept us together was the fabulous woman that was teaching and supervising us.
The following doesn't precisely target the shortcomings of Sentinel itself, but rather the people behind the meal department at MCPS. The meals that were served to the student body were despicable. The vegetables were dry, the pizza was basically cheap cheese and grease on a piece of cardboard, the fruit looked shady, and the breakfast served in the morning wasn't going to get a growing teenager's brain to function properly throughout the day. On the rare occasion that I might forget my lunch from home that day, I'd rather starve than eat the cusine they dished out and presumed "edible".
I think it's time I bring light to the sports department. As much as I enjoyed going to football games on late summer nights, I have to say the sports department is what is weighing a grand portion of the rest of Sentinel down. I saw teachers favor jocks over other students both in the halls and in class, I heard more about sports in the announcements than any other department, and I was personally harassed by football and basketball players alike. I understand if you choose to be your own person, but I don't think the kids playing sports should be given such a massive ego by the adults that surround them in comparison to other talents, even when perhaps there's a painter or a writer that has just as much talent and promise. That's not appropriate. All teenagers have a struggle to find themselves, so specializing one group isn't going to make another feel any better.
The idolizing of the sports department also impacts the funding of other departments. It makes no sense to me when the football team gets new, high-quality jerseys each year when part of that funding could go to getting better mice for the tech tools and graphic design classes, or maybe instead of getting professional photos of the volleyball team, some of that funding could go to the crumbling theater that has reached several safety hazards that are being completely overlooked by the BoD.