519 N Main Street Ext
Meadville, PA 16335

As a mom of a 9 yr. old lil boy with some learning curves I DO NOT recommend anyone send their child to this school if they have any kind of learning curves! They are quick to punish children who dont work at their pace and have a very fast judgement of the parents of these children as if we are some sort of dirt bags! And for a teacher to tell a child "Well I'll believe it when I see it" after he tells her he is moving and is excited about the move is absolutely absurd!! My child used to fight me every morning to go to school because he was afraid of his teacher yelling at him for not working fast enough or being afraid to ask for help with something! I feel so horrible about all this because like I said at first I thought it was behavioral and was punishing him for the notes the teacher would send home but after numerous meetings with the teacher and staff I began to understand what my child was telling me was the truth and why he did not want to go to school everyday!! As for bullying there isnt much done either! My child had bookbags ripped and stuff stolen and all the staff had to say was well just stay away from the kids that are doing these things to you! However that scenario is almost impossible when the kids are in the same class all day together!! I even asked for my son to be transferred into a different class but he was so scared of retaliation that he begged me not move him!!

Despite the overall population of Meadville's current and former students, alot of children are not having wonderful experiences here. Theres a police officer in the school during hours to break up fights from 7th to 12th grade, countless bullies, and programs like art that arent even in the curriculum for no good apparent reason. The pod system might work for some but, not all. In fact most of the time it completely seperates a student from anyone he/she might know making it feel like they just moved to the area with no friends and having to start over. This school like, many others, also overlooks the athletes behavior towards other students. If your child is bullied the most they will offer is advice to find someone to buddy up with and in school therapy. This is not a solution its a bandaid.

Crawford Central Schools all practice "Ability Grouping" which is a sneeky way of "Tracking" students. If your child is not a straight A student & not competing in the top 10% of his/her class then he/she will not prosper in this type of education system partly because the expectations of these students by the teachers are low so the teachers don't challenge them the way teachers should. Also, the AP classes have the better, more experienced teachers while everybody else winds up with the "newbies" & "paycheck teachers". These schools would be better if they quit spending all the money on the teacher's salaries, benefits & pensions. Crawford Central has the highest average paid teachers salaries in PA while it has one of the lowest per child spending rates. Most of the average & below average students don't even have books to bring home while the AP students do. Also, in order to get a teaching position in the Meadville area, one has to be either "related" or "know" someone. Good teachers from outside the area "need not apply." Look up "Ability grouping" & "Crawford Central School District" at Wikipedia & you will learn tons more about it & the overall effect.