702 Barrows Mill Rd
Martinsville, VA 24112

This school is not the worst, but it is definitely near the bottom compared to other schools in the area. From a student’s perspective, it often feels like the administration focuses more on enforcing rules than on students’ education.One example is how rules are enforced in the hallways during passing periods. The principal often uses a megaphone to tell students to take out earbuds, put phones away, and go to class. While it makes sense to enforce rules, using a megaphone during busy passing times, when students are already going to class, can feel excessive and disruptive. At times, it feels more overwhelming than helpful.When it comes to academics, the teachers, especially those teaching AP and advanced classes, are the strongest part of the school. Teachers in classes like calculus and Modern World History clearly care about their students and do a good job explaining difficult concepts. They put in real effort to make sure students understand the material and succeed academically.However, the administration often seems to work against teachers instead of supporting them. Teachers have mentioned that strict and unsupportive leadership contributes to staff shortages. In some cases, teachers are blamed for student behavior even after they have warned students multiple times. For example, with the phone policy, a teacher might tell a student to put their phone away, but the student may take it back out while the teacher is helping someone else. If administration walks in at that moment, the teacher may still get blamed, which feels unfair.Because of this environment, many hardworking and dedicated teachers have left for other schools. As a student, it is frustrating to lose good teachers and be left with substitutes, teachers from other subjects, or online classes that do not provide the same quality of learning.Overall, the teachers are the core strength of this school and genuinely care about students’ education. Many of the ongoing issues seem to come from administrative decisions rather than from the teachers or students.

As a graduate from Martinsville Middle School (class of 2028) I HATED my middle school experience up until 8th grade. Many of the teachers in the middle school are awful, and are a huge reason as to why my grades had slipped for awhile. In 8th grade I fixed my grades and I am now doing well, though! No thanks to MMS. The school faculty outside of the teachers is even worse, and the counselors are god awful and made my mental issues worse by degrading them, and me!! Peace out