208 Academy St
Watertown, NY 13601

As a student in this school, I've always felt very unsafe. Most teachers do not do anything to address the bullying, and mainly ignoring when students make transphobic or ableist remarks. While I think some of the teachers are doing well - particularly I can say my Spanish and English teachers are very kind and helpful, others aren't doing so well. For example, my math class is very unstructured and the math teacher rarely offers help, meaning those who struggle mostly get left in the dust. Also, this school has a lot of problems with transphobia- I've been deadnamed during a meeting with whole school, and many times teachers have fully ignored students making transphobic remarks. They also don't do much for mental health, and seem to mainly focus on looking like a good school rather than being one. Not to mention they apparently can't afford to purchase new locks for our bathroom stalls. Also, the art program is severely underfunded compared to other middle schools in the area. The teachers are doing well with what they can but sadly theor students have less of a chance of winning awards at local art competitions purely because they can't afford any more than cheap colored pencils and crayons, and cheap paint. Also, there's definitely a drug problem which probably relates to the fact that bullying and mental health problems are practically completly ignored, and a fighting problem for the same reason. a few of the teachers are pretty good, but this school needs some major improvements

FYI, the planetarium hasn't been open in the 3 years we've been here. The Teacher that ran the Planetarium program now teaches 3rd grade at Knickerbocker. My son is now here, in 6th grade. It is a decent school, but as I mentioned in my WHS review, I am not happy with the overall quality of the students that live in the Watertown area. My son recently was bullied on his way home from school (physically thrown to the ground and repeatedly punched in the arm), he was unharmed, but very upset. I immediately brought him back to the school to talk with the Principal, I was very happy with her response and how she handled the situation. There are a lot of programs intended to help academically at risk students, which is fantastic, but afterschool sports activities don't begin until 7th grade at Case. Wiley does have a swimming pool and they do have swimming in PE. Band starts here in 5th grade, and it is a great program. My Son really enjoys it. One last tidbit, there isn't a cafeteria kitchen here. The lunches are prepackaged, brought up from the high school and microwaved, resulting in a soggy meal. The nutritional quality is decent, but, my Son prefers a home lunch.

My child went to school there from a light house school in another city. She was in a gifted/talented program there and excelled. Upon arriving to this school my daughter was paired up to become friends with another student that I guess none of the other children cared for. She was picked on the entire year 1/2 she attended school here. Then the principle called me stating through "handwriting analysis" they thought that she had threatened another student. She has never been known to bully or has ever had a H discipline problems as in a big city I'm sure the kids get more training on that than in a small town; also she loves people so they would never be in her nature. There was also another incident where she needed to use the bathroom and did not know where the bathroom was. A counselor called me stating the teacher claimed my child was touching herself. I have never heard anything so appalling in my entire life! Upon further investigation she had not been told where the bathroom was. I've never been so disgusted by a school district in my entire life. Their curriculum is centered around worksheets. My student would complete this and read and draw after she was done with her work. The teacher would tell me to have her stop reading in class because she wasn't paying attention. Mind you she was making all A's. It tells me this is a failure of the school as well.After we moved schools all the problems seemed to magically go away and she all of a sudden loves school again. As a parent I would never encourage any student to be placed in this school- as it unfortunately caused her emotional trauma. It hurt to see a child who once loved school so much to go to crying everyday for a year and 1/2.

My Daughter has recently moved up to WHS from Case. We have had the occasional hiccup with a particular Teacher at Case, but so far, at the high school, I am impressed with the Principal, VP's and Teachers. My overall problem with Watertown schools in general is the "quality" of the other kids. We have lived here for over 3 years now and neither of my children has met a single kid with whom they will share lifelong bond. As my children get older (now a 6th grader and a 9th grader), bullying and peer pressure have reared their ugly heads. I have met many people who share our values and morals, but my children have not been so lucky. Teachers cannot teach children to have "good" values and morals, that is a Parents job and unfortunately, many Parents in Watertown are failing at it. The schools do have regular programs that teach the evils of bullying (not peer pressure, that I am aware of) and they do have "no tolerance" policies, but it still happens. That aside, the academics and programs in the Watertown schools are far better than the schools my children attended in Texas, or So. Calif.