Courchesne

My daughter has been going to the “big mesita” now for a couple of years and one thing that sticks out to me the most is the staff’s attitudes. Throughout the years, my daughter has told me how the lunchroom personnel and some of the teachers are condescending and just seem downright annoyed when they speak to the kids. My husband even witnessed a situation like this there in person. I’m not ok with this. I don’t send my child to school to be abused or ridiculed & I’ll be damned if someone gives my kid a complex. They need some training on how to manage children more effectively. I can understand now why no one wants to go the public school route anymore.

My child attended here from K-3, with the first 2 years being excellent. This school, like another parent noted, has deteriorated greatly. I would no longer recommend any child attend here. Our last year there was so bad that we left before the semester was over to attend private school.There are so many problems that I don't know where to start. The school is currently overrun with transfer students that should be attending Johnson. It has been a huge problem affecting everything from Drop off/Pick up to the quality of the PTA (which used to be one of the best, but is now run by transfer parents). Administration doesn't care and do not follow up on anything. The VP and Principal side with bullies and aggressors, and try to cover up everything from sexual harassment to bullying to death threats. Teachers have been assaulted by students. The bullying is as bad as inner city schools and includes threats of violence. Special needs students are not treated well, do not receive appropriate supports, and are denied transfer requests. Morale amongst the staff and teachers is understandably low. There has been teacher turnover. It's sad, but what was once a great school is no longer that.

I have had a wonderful experience this year as a Murphree parent. My child is loving the classes, teachers and classmates in the middle school. Episd makes it easy to check grades and communicate with the teachers through the parent portal and the app. The uniform is flexible compared to our previous school and my child seems more comfortable and happy with this school than the previous one. I can see big improvements in her grades and attitude. The school also has a variety of clubs and extracurricular to keep kids engaged and the discipline is excellent.