John Jay Senior High School

: John Jay is a good high school. Not a great high school but a good high school. There is some over crowding but that is due to poor scheduling and the ever increasing population in Dutchess County, especially in the East Fishkill/Hopewell Junction area.
The school offers a good amount of extra-curricular programs to enhance students skills and they have some very good classes that offer the same. Having the right teacher is SO important!
It is a middle class school with a middle class mentality. If your student has a good work ethic, they can go far but that work ethic must come from home. Work ethic isn't taughtin the elementary schools here. So it gets lost somewhere between teachers not wanting to do 'extra' work and not being able to keep up with the large class sizes. This is a public school with large unions so educational progress sometimes gets lost in contract negotiations.
Teachers cannot possibly keep up with the vast number of students unless parents stay abreast of progress as well. Parents must be on top of things or you will end up just middling along or worse.

Many graduates who go on to college will admit they weren't prepared for the work load and demands of college. But many do go to good colleges and have good and very productive lives.
John Jay is in the Wappingers Central School Distrcit so if your student needs "special attention" this is the district you want. They offer one of the states largest budgets for Special Education.
Many teachers are very dedicated and do an amazingly good job with the oversized population but many teachers lack experience or motivation to handle the load. Be selective in who your students gets and you'll be fine.
Secret to success here: be an involved parent, as best you can, and make sure the work asked for is done and done correctly.
Because of the large student population, its easy for a student to get lost in the crowd.