2299 SW Towle Ave
Gresham, OR 97080

This is coming from the perspective of a parent of a student at this school, as well as a teacher in a different school.School leadership and staff are struggling to keep control of student behavior this year (1st year back from distance learning). We all know that students' behaviors this year are challenging across the board - at all age levels - but McCarty does not seem to be managing well. There are frequent physical violence encounters, frequent theft among students, frequent vandalism of school and student property, and frequent classroom disruptions. Students of color are often subjected to racial harassment (from other students, not from staff). Teacher morale seems to be very low. Simple standards for behavior that could curb a lot of misbehaviors are not being enforced.On the positive side, it seems that teachers are attempting to keep up academic rigor. Relationships between teachers and students seem to be positive overall.

This school has some good teachers, but what they have in kind teachers, they lack in safety and communication. There have been several threats in just a few weeks of school. The school has gone into “secure” twice in the last two weeks. There has been little to no contact with family. There has been many instances where the view of the school has come before the safety of the students and others in the building. There is also a preschool in the school, where there was still little to no contact with parents. There has also been a shortage of lunches. This school has run out of food on more than one occasion. The vending machines are also commonly found in extremely low stock, and also have poor options. In general this school lacks many things, but if you look close enough, you’ll find some pretty amazing teachers.

I only let my daughter attend this school for one year before switching her. We had the worst experience. The teachers (kindergarten) have no awareness for age appropriate discipline or realistic expectations for them. On day 3 of kindergarten I found a paper in her backpack where her teacher made her write lines saying "I will listen to the teacher". She didn't even know how to write letters properly yet. There's zero help from the school counselor, I asked about my child maybe checking in with the counselor once a week and they said all her spots were full. So I guess she only helps some students? A lot of the kids here obviously come from difficult environments because their influence on my child was terrible. Teaching her curse words, showing their privates to each other. Be wary when sending your kids here