8260 SE Cesar E Chavez Blvd
Portland, OR 97202

This is a nice school! Kids act like kids (as opposed to teenagers)- which is a good thing. There's an overall calmness and expectation of learning.

Like most middle schools, both the teachers, staff, and students are all over the map. My kids have had some fantastic teachers while at SMS, but some have been complete clunkers. The school has an active PTA and involved parents that seem, for the most part, to truly care about the school. Academics are solid and there are a lot of great electives to choose from. The biggest issue seems to be with groups of kids that try to run the school with bullying, mean girl-like tendencies, and overall just aren't very nice to others. My kids have met a lot of lovely kids there though and have made some great friends, it is just disappointing to see that there is still a "popular kids" vibe that make for an uncomfortable landscape at times. Due to the schools that feed into it, there is a sense of some entitlement, many of the students are extremely wealthy. The band teacher and program are fantastic. Overall, we recommend the school, but the administration could benefit from trying to dismantle the popular kid cliques, or at least, not allow them to continue trying to rule the school.

We moved from out of state to Portland and researched schools before we came. We chose Cleveland because of the choir program and theater program. The website boasted 3 plays a year, etc. It was a bait and switch. We got there and the theater teacher was suspended for mysterious reasons and no productions only a substitute teacher that knew nothing about theater. After being an excellent student all her life my daughter started to have problems with her work and started hanging out with a bad crowd (school does nothing about kids leaving the grounds). This school only cares about kids who do well without effort. We spoke to guidance counselor at the end of 9th because we were concerned with slipping grades and some skipped classes and she told us not to worry and recommended a private academic coach, who cost us $2000 and did not help! I literally begged the choir teacher to give my child extra encouragement because I knew if she quit singing that we would lose her. Teacher did nothing. Only interested in the stars of the class.To make a long story short, this school grossly failed my child. After I insisted on an IEP out of desperation, they were slightly interested - interested in getting her off of their books! They pushed us to go to the Community College program, which was not suited to her needs at all and she failed it. Covid hit. She never graduated. Thanks, Cleveland!!!There are some GREAT teachers at this school, and some not so great but still very compassionate. The vice-principal (the principal was a revolving door when we were there) and counseling staff are the worst! They actually assigned a counselor to my child that was the mother of the student that caused my child a lot of grief. Completely clueless. The neighborhood is pretty awful also, if you are unfamiliar with Portland look at the setting the school is in - near Cleveland lots of camps and drug use in the park across the street, and strip bars less than a block away. No healthy food restaurants anywhere. Do not send your impressionable sensitive child here!