Cathro Road Back
Alpena, MI 49707

I transferred out of this school. The hallways are crowded and at lunch time if you are running behind, you will not have a good selection of food. They will not give you food unless you can pay. I would have friends begging me for my lunch. Additionally, this school has a LAUGHABLE policy on bullying. If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community (ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE TRANS) then you need to stay in the closet. The staff do nothing to protect it's students. There is no repercussions for bullying, they tell you it's your fault for being x,y,z. And if you are suffering from mental illness, they are incredibly uncaring of it. Dress codes only apply to those who are deemed unattractive, and a friend once got kicked out of a dance because the "rash" on her arm was "obviously scabies". It was eczema. The nurse will ignore you, and if you open up to the counsellors, they will make your life miserable. They force you to go off site and pay $300 for a counselor. They don't always let you get your inhaler if you need it, and they count each class against you instead of a day. I transferred out of that horrible place to the alternative school and instantly went from failing to straight A's. If you require any amount of compassion or have issues with high stress environments, you need to run as fast as you can out of this school. The building is always cold in the winter and they refuse to use AC in the summer. You will NOT have enough time to go to your locker. Many people never go to it because there is no time. When the last class ends, you have approximately 5 minutes to get from one end of campus to the other and on your bus, otherwise they will leave you there. Bus drivers are also jerks in this town. It is 50/50 if you will get one who doesn't mind kids or one that will forbid ALL speaking. The only upside to this school is that is is not religious. Some of the teachers in this district are questionable, a few have been accused of, shall we say, "inappropriate relationships with students". Some of the teachers are amazing, but only some. If you are attractive, straight, and sporty, you will do well here. If not, good luck. I personally hated every second of this school district, and I am so thankful that I transferred out of it.

I love the teachers at TBJHS and the support staff! Most of them are very caring and engaging with their students and families if you wish to be. I have 2 children that have gone through this school. Junior high is tough. The staff there made the struggles easier and were very responsive to any inquiries or concerns i had. Transition to high school was tough after being in such an engaging school.

I waited until my last child was done with this school before reviewing because I didn't want my kids to pay for my opinions. My kids have been going to Besser since 2009, so 14 years. We have been through 4 principals and multiple teachers and staff. It was a great school until 4-5? years ago. When the last principal took over. Then it all went downhill. Parking, dropping off and picking up kids became a huge problem. Kids are marked late because their clock is the only right clock in the world (as I see someone else mentioned). It's just a mess there. Last day of school you could go to line the halls to see your 5th grader walk the halls at the end of the day. Lots of parents showed up. They weren't even allowed to park in the parking lot at the school. We all had to park on the street. Most teachers there no longer care about the kids. There are only a couple who actually care. I told them for YEARS that my daughter didn't know multiplication. She was struggling in math. Finally, the last couple months of 5th grade they discovered that like a third of the fifth graders were struggling in math (most likely due to covid) and weren't ready for 6th grade. imagine that. Now they have tutors this summer. I've already found a paid tutor for my child sine they wouldn't help prior.The year prior I had miserable kids because of masks. They didn't care that my daughter had headaches every day from one. No sympathy. The teachers mocked and made fun of the kids who didn't want to wear a mask. My son missed a ton of school (we eventually figured out why and fixed it) but he was miserable there and I reached out to several staff members. Most of them didn't care and the principal was actually quite rude about it. Only one teacher (my son's teacher from a previous year) replied back to me and was very helpful and supportive. If not for her I would have pulled my son. NO ONE ELSE wanted to help him!!! Again, the teacher's there act all kind and supportive, but the majority of them and the principal DO NOT CARE! This school used to be very welcoming to parents before the recent principal took over. I was always told that that was my child and I was free to come in an observe whenever I wanted. Parents were always welcome. Not anymore. It's VERY parent unfriendly.