16 Donelson St
Gainesville, TX 76272

Excellent school. If you want to get your children out of the big "rat race" schools to where their differences are appreciated and cultivated then this is your school

I would rate my experience at this school as one star, coming from an academically-oriented point of view. The only admirable emphasis this school has academically is making sure students get into college, which appears on the surface to be a worthy cause but, upon closer inspection, obviously has some flaws. This school is characterized by a lack of promotion of talented students and an ingrained structure against promoting the intellectual development of its students; most likely, this can be attributed to a corrupt incentive structure. I would highly advise looking for other options if you are a parent of an up-and-coming smart child; this is not the place for you. As for children with other primary interests (band, football, etc.) this may very well be a place he or she thrives, but at the expense of any real intellectual development, he or she may have developed while attending a school with non-corrupt incentives. Albeit, there are many amazing teachers at this school, but they are often filtered out, so there is no consistency except in the teachers of liberal arts subjects that seem to have permanent seats.

What a blessing it is to have my child come home from school everyday with a positive attitude and excited to tell me about her day. I love hearing about her teachers, how fun and creative they can be, how they laugh together and how she feels they are approachable. It says a lot when the teachers are happy and positive in their classrooms; it tells me that they have a good thing going on there. I had heard such great things about Principal Toth and I can honestly say it's all true; he has really turned this school around. Middle School can be the toughest years in ones life but for us, my child is having a great experience that is helping to shape her into what I expect to be a loving and caring citizen in our community.

This school is lacking in good leadership. The Vice Principal appears to be running the show - which has sadly taken this school in the wrong direction. There are some really good teachers, ones who appear to actually love their job, but the teachers who are bad are unapproachable, appear to not like children, and some actually bully the children. While my child was not generally at the receiving end of the bullying, it was witnessed and troubled my child greatly. Some teachers have no filter...they share information that is not always appropriate for children. I was saddened that my child had been exposed to music with inappropriate lyrics, R rated images, and adult subjects such as rape - not from other students, but from teachers. On the upside, I have to recognize that the good teachers were really really good. They were approachable, creative, consistent, communicative, and truly caring. I pray this school turns things around very soon!