203 Harrison Ave
Charleston, IL 61920

N/A

The amount of stress that the students are put under in some classes is ridiculous and there is an alarmingly high level of drug and nicotine addiction, students often vaping in the bathrooms without consequence. In physical education, when such a thing is most important, 504 plans and physical needs or accommodations are ignored. You send them in? They won’t look. You ask the office to tell them to look? They will glance over them. Next thing you know, students are getting injured or passing out. Several students have been found to be buried in the amount of work provided and many also struggle because of the computer system. Students are provided computers that run very slowly and die very quickly, they often do not last as long as needed. Many teachers have made things difficult by requiring assignments to be turned in online and will not allow them to be turned in physically. Chargers get lost or stolen, students forget to charge their computers, or maybe they even forgot to bring their computer in the first place. Not to mention the weight of it on top of everything else they need to bring with them. The cherry on top here is that students will get punished and given “points” (essentially a strike system) or even detention for any of these things. Punishment systems are left up to each teacher and vary in each classroom, meaning that students can be given harsh, unfair punishments for small mistakes, especially those who are disliked by teachers (usually disabled, queer, poc, etcetera.) However, there are good teachers at this school who will listen to the students when they need help. Students also benefit from this school’s “block scheduling,” which makes their schedules a lot less stressful. The school offers drivers education, which is nice. Overall, Charleston High School is a mediocre option. If you’re going to place your child here, don’t expect high grades. CBE makes it impossible for some students to get an A or A+ in classes and when they appear as those lower grades, children of strict parents get punished for that overly complicated system. I cannot stress enough that this school is NOT meant for people who expect A+’s, child OR parent.

I used to go here and I was bullied badly, nobody seemed to care even when I told them, they said to ignore it every time, but that’s really just not possible when it’s everyday, some of the teachers were very nice but others were mean for no reason at all. I was failing math and nobody ever thought maybe I have a learning problem that we should look into, just told me I needed to work harder, I recently found out I have a learning disability that stopped me from being able to excel in math class, everyone saw me struggling but nobody thought of things that could really help me learn. Vice principal is very harsh with rules and also rude to students that have behavioral issues. He and other teachers choose favorites, and believe their favorites (ie; popular, sporty, smart, and dare I say, rich kids) over other students, myself and my friends were bullied and discriminated against for being different or for having mental health problems. I would not recommend this school whatsoever, I hardly learned, I was miserable every day and dreaded walking into the building each morning. My own sister has severe behavioral issues and had a very hard time with teachers and other staff helping here the was she needed, she ultimately ended us in TLC and is now doing marvelously in her academics, and is happier there than she ever was at this school. Please if you want your child to have a good middle school experience do NOT send them to Charleston Middle School.