4400 Switch Willo #20
Austin, TX 78727

Communication with this, and just AISD in general, is awful. Everyone tells you a different thing, and to get calls back takes forever. There is just no follow through. It must be bad leadership from the top because it’s across the board. This district has lots of money, so hire more staff, or improve your work culture to retain more employees because your services to students and parents is not good.

Murchison Middle School is an incredibly unwelcoming school with no interest in communicating with families or involving them in their child's learning experience. It is actually the policy of teachers to not communciate with parents - my 6th grader was told, multiple times, "We don't believe in emailing parents." I reached out to everyone I could think of as my previously happy, A/B student began bringing home grades ranging from 0-50, and missing assignments. I could not get any one to respond to me, and she spent the entire year receiving failing grades. Administration never bothered to respond to my emails or requests for help. All of the school events and extracurriculars were similarly run. There is no interaction with parents or involvement with the family. Furthermore, all learning is done through the screen. Teachers do not seem interested in teaching, or in ensuring that their students are learning. If students sink, then they sink. We will be withdrawing our daughter from this school. I recommend looking into charter schools, or transferring to other schools in AISD, unless your student is a perfect student who never needs additional support or accommodations.

My student has been bullied by another student for her entire year at Davis. She’s had instances being bullied since she started in 2nd grade, and not enough is done to ensure her safety at school. I understand the staff is doing what they can without completely expelling the other student, unfortunately it isn’t enough and is greatly impacting her emotional health. The bullying is known within a group of students, and the staff has been aware for the years these students have been at Davis. My students mental and emotional health has been greatly impacted, she has lost interest in her school work and cries every day about going to school. She doesn’t care about learning and finds no interest in any subject. A lot of the time, she feels punished by teachers and staff, because she now has certain restrictions to keep her away from the other student. It’s gotten so bad we are now in therapy and considering moving so we can change schools, which is unfortunate for the friendships she has developed.