Purcell
Madison, WI 53711

My 3 kids have all attended Netherwood and I'm so sad my youngest is graduating this year. It really is a special school and I'm so glad my kids had the opportunity to go there. I can't imagine a more caring, positive environment. Academics are top notch too. All the "extras" are offered, even Spanish and swimming lessons. Many fun traditions and school spirit. Lots of extra hep and attention given to students who are struggling. The facility is older and kind of a maze from all the additions over the years. The school district maintains it nicely though. There's a neat arboretum in the middle of the school. The PTOis phenomenal and parent involvement is pretty high. I wish every kid could go to a school like Netherwood.

Teacher's perspective.PROS- Excellent course offerings. There's something for everyone.- Outstanding level of clubs and extracurriculars available.- Many sports programs are very strong and a high % of students participate.- I'm biased, but I think most of the staff is very good. There's a couple teachers that are world-class (everyone knows who they are). There's always a few outliers, of course, but most of the teachers are knowledgeable, talented, student-oriented, dedicated, and care about their job and relationships with kids.- Customer-service oriented. School will do anything to appease parents and students.- We have great students. They're generally very well-behaved and respectful, especially compared to other schools in Dane County.- Parents and community are extremely supportive. They voted to pass a referendum (and raise their taxes) to increase staff salaries because of district budget failures. I don't think that would happen in many areas.CONS- Sports tends to be valued more than academics (principal comes from a sports background). Students regularly miss class for sports competitions. When students have failing grades, teachers are pressured to raise them to keep them eligible for sports participation.- School is extremely liberal and intolerant of any political opinions outside that realm.- Consistent issues with bullying/harassment.- Advisory program has been very ineffective. They usually either purchase canned curriculum that feels inauthentic, or have lesson plans created by people who don't even teach. The kids hate it.- Grading policies (unlimited test retakes, unlimited late work submission, no scores below 50%) have been very detrimental to students' organization and responsibility and has led to massive grade inflation.- Although the school has tried to emphasize equity, no improvement has been made and our minority students perform consistently worse than our white students. They often voice feeling uncomfortable and unsafe at school.- School response to the pandemic has left a not-insignificant portion of the community upset.- District budget is a disaster and bodes poorly for the future. We spend disproportionately more on administration and instructional coaches than other districts. Many teachers feel contempt towards these positions for having lower impact yet higher pay than the teachers in the classrooms doing the hard work.- Cell phone use is out of control due to weak district policy.

This school is racist they didn’t let my daughter go to black girl magic because she was defending her self to a 8th grader last year now she is in 8th grade and now on the the administrators said she can’t go because of that the students say the n word freely without getting in-trouble but if my students say it she gets suspended I don’t recommend taking ur kid here

School administration cares little about individual children and their specific needs. And is very judgmental towards single family homes.

i was a student and all the teachers were rude