10405 Down Patrick Ln
Great Falls, VA 22066

The schools is over good. Most of the other reviews are from months ago when the schools was getting newly renovated. Currently all the hall ways are fine and they have student ark work at almost every corner. They have a great library and most of the teachers are nice and are excited to teach students, and I saw most because there are some exceptions. First the Algebra 1 teachers, I will not name any names but they primary teach the 7th grade. They are rude and seem to work against students. One actually teaches but never gives helpful tricks, the other one is a disaster. Many of my peers have made remarks about how he doesn't teach, locks the door, and regularly yells at students. He also once didn't let a close friend retake a test because he didn't staple papers. I find this apalling and quite incorrect. Next the principle is quite rude and snarky. She doesn't honestly seem like she cares and wont do anything about the constant rasicm, the sexist teachers. and the constant school fights. In return she will lock bathrooms during class changes and frequently forgets to unlock the and the school admins only have the keys but usually walk away. Also many of the teachers also don't seem to care. Many are seen using phones and not helping students and these two action usually result in students having bad grades. Overall I believe Cooper Middle School is a generally ok school but, it quite flawed in many places.

We have been struggling for 3 years at this school. My child is doing very well in school but is not challenged and the pace of learning is slow and not engaging. We have never really felt welcome as parents and we don’t feel the administration has ever made an effort to know my child. Some grades give homework and other grades don’t. Teacher communication differs by grade level. But I often don’t know what my child is learning or how they are doing until the report cards come out. The kids are constantly being tested on skills they have not been taught. The testing is a bit excessive. There is a lot of teacher turnover as well as a lot of part time teachers. There is a lot of non academic time including screen time as early as kindergarten. The PTA is very present and constantly fundraising. Every event is for raising money. However instead of focusing on opportunities to benefit the students most of the budget is geared toward teacher perks. They do arrange after school classes but they’re very expensive and probably a fundraiser too. The principal is overly supporting teachers over students. This school has a Japanese immersion program but the parents treat this like a separate private school. The entry is by lottery but it seems the majority of the class is made up of local kids. I believe the school would be stronger without the language immersion program. It seems to segregate kids. We don’t feel any community at this school and it’s sad because it’s a small school that has the potential but communication and family engagement is poor. There are several PTA members that are heavily involved and don’t seem to welcome newcomers.

Class of 2021 here, part of the special education system with ADHD + Dyslexia. The special education team was apathetic and disinterested at best and traumatic and ableist at worst. The team had fought against me taking certain classes and fought against me working towards an advanced depolama. Too biased and a bit unprofessionally mean to certain students. I’ve caught too many scoffs, rolling eyes, and ignoring my questions. Not to mention my intelligence was being debated during parent teacher conferences, so much so that a psychiatrist had to be present, but ultimately I decided to represent myself during these meetings. How are you to scoff and roll your eyes at a child with learning challenges? The classes that the IEP team strongly advised me against taking ended up being the most motivating and accommodating class settings purely out of the teachers own kindness towards the student and passion for their position.IEP team, please save your frustrations and negative attitudes and do not put it onto neurodivergent students. They aren’t stupid and can sense your anger.Do your job like how you described in the interview process and treat these kids with more care and kindness. They’re in the phase where everything you do will affect them for life.