Walter R Johnson Middle

"I've given 2 stars based on first impressions. I hope they improve. Open house revealed a school that seemed unprepared for the school year. Schedules for children were not ready, no locks in and other than home room teacher assignment no clear idea who other teachers would be. Each teacher sent a "syllabus" home outlining rules for classroom. It would seem more advisable that teachers for each grade would together have a standardized set of rules thus eliminating countless paper and confusion as to what is expected of students in each class. Each teacher had their own bathroom use rule, one teacher had instructions on runny noses and tissue use, paper cuts and bandages, use of classroom phone etc etc. Students not allowed use of locker between classes, tho when weighing my child's backpack it weighed 19 pounds. More than a fourth of her body weight. On her first week when she went to place her lunch bag in locker (despite still not having locks) after lunch, a teacher told her she didn't need to be in locker and she should bring her lunch bag with her to class. I'm not sure what the purpose of a locker is when access is extremely limited. The school has countless rules. I wasn't sure if we were sending her to school or to military boot camp. I asked a teacher about specific tutoring programs and was given a non specific answer. These are just a few of the instances that left me with less than impressed impression of school. It is early yet so maybe things will improve and if they do I will improve my rating. The proof is in the pudding as they say. I will see how well they teach my child, if they engage her in the learning process or if it is dry as dust. (One quick observation, while waiting in parking lot at school one day as I arrived early to pick up child, a class came out to fly paper airplanes for an experiment of sorts. The teacher spent his time on cell phone instead of engaging with students. Very disappointing. Time will tell."

"It was an excellent school before tablets were added and books were taken away. The children have a hard time remembering what is on a tablet, a book they can reference back to so much easier."

"I've given 2 stars based on first impressions. I hope they improve. Open house revealed a school that seemed unprepared for the school year. Schedules for children were not ready, no locks in and other than home room teacher assignment no clear idea who other teachers would be. Each teacher sent a "syllabus" home outlining rules for classroom. It would seem more advisable that teachers for each grade would together have a standardized set of rules thus eliminating countless paper and confusion as to what is expected of students in each class. Each teacher had their own bathroom use rule, one teacher had instructions on runny noses and tissue use, paper cuts and bandages, use of classroom phone etc etc. Students not allowed use of locker between classes, tho when weighing my child's backpack it weighed 19 pounds. More than a fourth of her body weight. On her first week when she went to place her lunch bag in locker (despite still not having locks) after lunch, a teacher told her she didn't need to be in locker and she should bring her lunch bag with her to class. I'm not sure what the purpose of a locker is when access is extremely limited. The school has countless rules. I wasn't sure if we were sending her to school or to military boot camp. I asked a teacher about specific tutoring programs and was given a non specific answer. These are just a few of the instances that left me with less than impressed impression of school. It is early yet so maybe things will improve and if they do I will improve my rating. The proof is in the pudding as they say. I will see how well they teach my child, if they engage her in the learning process or if it is dry as dust. (One quick observation, while waiting in parking lot at school one day as I arrived early to pick up child, a class came out to fly paper airplanes for an experiment of sorts. The teacher spent his time on cell phone instead of engaging with students. Very disappointing. Time will tell."

"It was an excellent school before tablets were added and books were taken away. The children have a hard time remembering what is on a tablet, a book they can reference back to so much easier."