I am in the gifted and talented program at McKinley Senior High. This 2012-13 school year, I am a sophomore. I transferred to this school from BRMHS, a magnet school, and was and am extremely pleased that I left. The magnet program is just not the same. If you are an identified gifted student, I STRONGLY recommend staying in the gifted program and coming to McKinley. All 5 of my G/T teachers exceed expectations. Each of my core classes is challenging; I learn something every day. (As of this school year, we have all 7 classes every day, in order.) Also - I have been in the Talented Visual Art program since 1st grade and have never loved it as much as I have at McKinley. It is worry-free, unlike the other Art programs I have been in at other schools. The lack of stress has an amazing effect on students' work - it is beyond belief. Unfortunately, I am only speaking for the gifted, talented, and great scholars programs. I have no idea what goes on in the traditional program at McKinley and therefore cannot comment on it. The only problems I have with the school have to do with the organization. At the beginning of the year, everyone's schedules are jumbled and, this year, it took 1.5 weeks to work it all out. At other schools, students are already taking tests on what they've learned during the time that we are simply trying to get our schedules fixed. If you want to go to McKinley, you are going to have to accept this kind of thing, as the school is extremely overcrowded and the administration scrambles to accommodate. Despite these downfalls, McKinley is worth it to me. I would urge every gifted/great scholars student to at least try it for a semester. I'm definitely staying for the rest of my high school years!