“I have a theory he collects his students’ tears,” hypothesizes one student. “I had to sacrifice a chicken to a voodoo deity to pass her class,” laments another.“I learned there are 137 tiles on the ceiling,” remarks a third. All of these quotes are taken from the semi-viral college professor review platform Rate My Professors, where college students can rate specific professors and courses on their difficulty, helpfulness, workload, and other key aspects that may influence a prospective student’s decision when selecting their courses. These reviews, famously colorful and recently viral, are meant to give a former student’s honest opinion about a teacher and their class. With the website skyrocketing in popularity in recent years, a high school version of Rate My Professors might seem like the natural evolution of this platform, allowing younger students to share their academic experiences with the same ease as their older peers. But while enabling students to publicize their experiences may sound empowering—and occasionally hilarious—bringing such a platform to any high school environment raises questions about its effectiveness, fairness, and its impact on the educational environment.

One of the most obvious benefits of a high school class rating system is giving the student body a voice. Teachers wield a lot of power both in and outside of the classroom, especially at a school where teachers take on multiple roles on campus as coaches, club advisors, and dorm faculty, and such a platform could allow students to balance that dynamic. “It has to be anonymous, though,” said Sophie Posamentier ‘26, who expressed her reservations about such a platform’s place in the Loomis community, but nonetheless stated that complete anonymity was the only way to allow “students to share their authentic thoughts on classroom, environments, and teaching styles without fear of retaliation.” The second main advantage of such a platform comes down to transparency. While a review system is already in place, the surveys are shared and sent internally, making it more difficult to compile testimonies about a single class. A forum could allow school administrators and community members to identify standout teachers or recurring problems in classrooms that may otherwise go unnoticed. Finally, the feedback such a forum provides gives a heads up to prospective students looking for more information on a class and help them make the right choice in terms of class structure, teaching styles, workload, and also allow teachers to improve on their own classes by receiving anonymous feedback from past and current students. 

However, with such a platform would come a very real set of drawbacks to consider, starting with bias. The students leaving these reviews can range in age, including teenagers who are still developing emotional regulation and critical thinking. An extremely low rating may originate from a student lashing out, upset about a grade. These criticisms can permanently tarnish a teacher’s reputation. Ro Clark, Ammidon Hall dorm head, Visual Arts Department Chair, and Associate Director of DEI, expressed her concern about the impact of such a platform on teachers’ careers, stating that bad reviews left in bad faith are “out there forever” and “accessible to future employers,” potentially jeopardizing a teacher’s job opportunities. There is also the fact that Loomis students generally cannot request to be in or switch out of a particular teacher’s class, and many of the courses Loomis students take are mandatory. This would nullify their ability to use the advice a forum like Rate My Professors may provide. Lastly, the idea of constantly being rated and professionally impacted by the teenage population can unduly weigh on teachers, potentially leading some to prioritize popularity over effectiveness, forgoing necessary lessons or discipline to secure better reviews. However, while it is crucial for teachers to receive feedback, education shouldn’t be a popularity contest, and a public review forum could turn it into one. 

Ultimately, it’s not realistic for a high school community to moderate and support a fair, honest, and anonymous Rate My Professors copycat. With legitimate concerns about objectivity, career impact, and teaching effectiveness outweighing the positives of giving an already close-knit community an online platform to voice their concerns. While imperfect course descriptions and word of mouth paint a fairly comprehensive picture of what specific classes and instructors are like, the platform’s use as a tool for legitimate feedback is dubious at best. The platform thus risks becoming a digital burn book with real-world consequences for those featured in its pages, and therefore cannot exist in the Loomis Chaffee community.