7569 flower meadow
SD, CA 92126

It’s not what it used to be.

This is our 3rd failed attempt to place one of our children at this highly ranked local neighborhood school. In our experience, the high rating does not reflect the poor learning environment, the lack of responsiveness when problems arise, and the absolute dismissal by the administrative staff when major concerns are brought to their attention. Here are 3 of our experiences that shaped our decision to use a new school: 1. Class change requests are not approved even for valid reason. Ex. Teacher telling several of her students that she is "taking pictures of (child) being bad" and threatening to send it to their parents. Then denying all parent requests to observe/volunteer in the classroom. The parents were informed by the principal that class change requests were not part of their policy. 2. After our request for an occupational therapy evaluation for choking (as recommended by 3 different therapists and our pediatrician), it was promptly denied by a surprise meeting which was supposed to be a parent teacher conference meeting - we were given no prior notice that this meeting had been changed to an IEP assessment denial meeting. We suspect this impromptu style was intentional. 3. We had hoped our children would associate school with feeling excited about learning, but more days then not, they have come home in tears, discouraged, "feeling stupid", not wanting to go back to school, feeling scared of their teachers, etc. We have found the environment that was created to be hostile, intimidating, unsafe, negligent, and has set back the learning for that year of attendance with each of our 3 attempts. Unfortunately, the best thing we did, was advocate for our children, and change schools.

Many of the teachers and staff at Challenger Middle School care a lot about the students and their well-being. Also, there is a class focused on students with disabilities that can make it difficult to work. I often see them around during my P.E. hours and the staff there seem to love helping out these kids. Although the amount of teachers who teach in a way that actually helps students learn is split, most of them respect their students and are very supportive of them. There are many clubs here, one of which being the Filipino Club, which focuses on teaching students about Filipino culture, and, near the end of the year, cultivates in a live performance featuring many parts of Filipino culture, such as the tinikling dance and skits relating to famous Filipino figures. Even though I am not a part of Filipino club, the teacher there is incredibly nice and cherishes each one of her students. And that's just one of the clubs and events that happen at Challenger Middle School that connect families to the school community. So, there's great teachers; then what's the problem? Well, since the teachers love their students so incredibly much, students at this school can't seem to care about anything than their own pride; even their 'friends' are really just people they use to get what they want, getting in fights and harassing other students to show off their power. But they get away with everything, since the teachers are so nice. They're horrible, always talking down about the teachers who love them so much. I can also get irritated by my teachers, but I recognize that they are living, breathing humans, unlike the students at this school. In simple terms, the teachers care so much about their students that they've created a toxic community. And another reason is the homework. Right now, I am actually supposed to be doing my homework, which I have been working on for 5 hours. This is because, since the teachers don't punish the students, the students run all their homework through AI, making the class seem smarter than they actually are, or putting in short answers, making it seem like students are finishing lots of work efficiently, meaning more homework and more time wasted for students who actually care like me. Sometimes, all the homework makes me feel like i'm lagging behind, even though I know the truth. Even then, with all those problems, there isn't another school I'd rather be at than here, because here, the good outweighs the bad by so much more.