3 E Decorah Rd
West Bend, WI 53095

As a parent of two children who attended Badger middle school, I found the transition from Silverbrook to Badger to be disappointing. Throughout the school year, phone calls to the office often went unanswered, and return calls were extremely rare. While the office staff were always friendly in person, communication with parents was consistently lacking. I also experienced issues during a safety-related situation involving my child. Other families were notified before I was, and despite being told I would receive updated, they forgot until weeks after I received mail about it. The counselors were one the the school's strengths. Both of my children worked with them (vaguely) and I found them to be supportive, caring, and helpful. Unfortunately, communication was the worst with teachers. Emails often went unanswered, and when responses were provided, information sometimes conflicted with what was shown in skyward (missing work, upcoming work, etc). The switch to canvas made it even more difficult for parents to keep track of assignments and expectations. I understand that middle school is a time for students to become more independent, but Badger often felt too hands-off. In my experience, there was a major lack of support and communication compared to other schools my children have attended --and I have 5. Badger was the most challenging experience for our family. While there are good staff members, I believe communication and parent engagement need significant improvement.

Our twins currently attend Decorah Elementary. They are in kindergarten. They both have great teachers. My son has an IEP and has had really good support from Mrs. Muench, who is his K5 teacher, and Miss Sullivan, who is his Special Education teacher. We are moving out of the district this summer for a job change, and we will be very sad to leave this school. The principal, Mrs. Lustig, is also fantastic!

Overall a solid education system. Students in general could benefit from more "real world" education. (personal finance and so on)

Ex- student here: Would not recommend. I absolutely hated it there. The teachers barely seemed like they cared, kids got written up for the smallest things. The school did seem really sexist. If boys blurted out, they were fine. If girls did it? It was a lecture. I know so many kids who were scared to even answer questions. And kids with social anxiety like me weren't pushed to speak out. But when we were scared to do something in a group, we got pushed to do it. And they barely seemed like they cared about our mental health.

Terrible administration, horrible communication and operates as more of a dictatorship than a cohesive learning environment