3220 79th Avenue NW
Olympia, WA 98502

In my experience, this school was fun to be a part of as a younger child, but much more problematic in the higher grades. The education was better in elementary school and due to the fairly small sizes of the classes, the teachers were able to give the necessary attention to each student. Plus, discrimination was low in younger grades because all of the students were still young. However, in middle school, things took a turn. Discrimination increased by an insane amount, and though I was never the target of this hate, I would hear about these problems all the time. Multiple times, my friends and I witnessed racial slurs being used by other students, and though we always reported it when we saw it happen, the school often didn’t do anything about it. Occasionally, there would be a temporary punishment set in place, but there was no effort by the staff to permanently stop the students from using slurs. This got so bad that it would be considered a ‘normal daily occurrence’ to hear discriminating words in the hallways. Every time we spoke up to the faculty, they would claim that they were ‘working on fixing the problem behind the scenes’. I’m not even sure what that was supposed to mean, but I never saw a school day where the “Griffin Grizzlies” respected themselves, respected each other, or respected their school. However, from the outside these problems aren’t seen easily, and the school appears normal. Besides the major discrimination problem, it’s actually a nice school. Many of the teachers were great people and great educators, who I really appreciated. The school is also enjoyable if you have friends there. Griffin is the place where I met many of my best friends. The campus is fairly small, which is easy to navigate, and it is in good quality thanks to the janitorial team. There are a lot of large groups or packs among the students, and there is definitely a popularity hierarchy, among both students and parents. Most often, children of Griffin teachers or staff become more popular, and it is hard to get into the real Griffin “community”. These problems are very prominent to someone who knows Griffin inside and out, but it can still be an enjoyable experience with the right teachers and friends, which I had during my time at this school. Every school has problems, and this one is no exception, but i still valued my Griffin Experience. The amount of spirit at this school is also wholesome. Overall, I would recommend this school, but it has problems.