Castella Plan in Ladera at The Reserve by Ladera Living
Mansfield, TX 76063

AMAZING school from the principal to the teachers. I would give 12 stars if I could. The teachers are thoughtful, the curriculum is challenging, and they cater to your child's strengths and gifts. Instructional planning and design is done with equity in mind. If child is behind they are not forgotten, if child is advanced they are strengthened. Keep in mind they are dealing with hundreds of different personalities and probably only hear negativity, are over worked and under paid, yet the teachers still display grace, compassion and love to the students and families. The enrichment enhances my child's academic journey. From Tech to STEM, Music, Diversity events, there is a reason this school is rated so high. Their SPED program is top notch!!! My son LOVES school and smiles so wide, he has really come out of his shell, doing advanced math and reading. I am blessed and privileged to have found such committed partners in my child's academic journey. THANK YOU ESE!!

This school does nothing to teach kids reality or prepare them for college. They allow late work weeks and months after due dates, they allow kids to act up in class and distract the others, they allow poor grades to be changed at the end of the period in order to pass. The even allow kids to use their laptops to use Google translate in order to pass language classes. Our child learned no Spanish after two years because all they did was translate it all online to get the answers needed to pass. They only teach the kids how to pass a class, not how to be students or how to learn. The school cares about how they appear to get funding, not what they teach these kids. It's all about state testing and funding. Our kid will be lost in college except for what WE have taught him at home.

From the parent of one of the teachers,The teachers are not the problem the parents are. Parents at this school are so entitled they want the teachers to do everything for their little darlings. Their child can do NO wrong in the parent’s eyes and they blame their child’s failures on the teachers. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the kid not turning in assignments and being disrespectful and rude to teachers and staff. Parents you need to take responsibility for your child and not blame teachers for your failures. Martinez has some of the most entitled, rude, disrespectful and lazy parents in the district.

Charlene McKinzey Middle is overall one of the better Mansfield ISD middle schools. You can expect a normal education here, with teachers with good experience. Particularly, for the STEM program, you can expect more hands on and technological activities and less paper work, building things like rollercoasters, wind turbines, and more through “PBLs (Project Based Learning)”. Other than the hands on activities, you can expect much of the same thing that comprehensive students learn. For comprehensive classes, you can expect varied experiences with different teachers with the added perk of being in a good band, orchestra, and other extracurriculars. You should note that for the STEM program, you are not able to participate in band, orchestra, Spanish, and some others, but being in athletics is still an option for all students. For athletics, you should expect an above average experience with many sports available, which will most likely include the sport you are looking for. The building itself has a very contemporary and open atmosphere, similar to how many other middle schools being built after 2020 in DFW look. If you look up “new middle schools in DFW interiors” you will get a good idea of how McKinzey appears. The building is kept very clean (shout out to custodians) and you won’t have to worry about sanitary issues here, other than the occasional cockroach. The building also has many collaborative learning spaces which encourage working together with others. The only drawbacks you can see at McKinzey are that you may have an iffy teacher here and there and a few safety concerns. You will not have to worry too much about contraband being brought into the school as everyone goes through a weapons detector upon entry of the school, although there can be gaps with this system for detecting. As for most, if not every middle school there is fighting between students, and McKinzey is no exception to this issue. Eventually, the administrators in McKinzey do combat this, and it is getting better, but it is not gone. Overall, if you are looking for a good education in a growing part of Mansfield, McKinzey is a good school to consider if you are planning to attend here. If you are not yet in McKinzey or have a student that cannot attend McKinzey yet, Brenda Norwood Elementary and Alma Martinez Intermediate feed into Charlene McKinzey Middle.