Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School

This is our third son to go through MLK. We have had good experiences here. When we had issues with the staff I have been able to bring them to the appropriate counselor and work through them to our satisfaction. The education is high quality and fair. A lot of the kids have military parents and they get stressed when mom or dad deploy. But it also brings a high level of discipline and dedication to the school environment. The kids are great to be around. Some of the staff had our oldest son twenty two years ago, and a few are just beginning their teaching careers, so it's a nice mix of experience and fresh ideas.The security on campus is very tight. I feel safe leaving my child at school, or at least as safe as any parent can these days. The Oceanside PD has a great working relationship with the principal and administration and does not hesitate to show up when necessary, but they also make a point not to be heavy handed. School security is a fine balance these days. We are happy with the challenging high tech classes and classics that our son is learning at MLK Middle School. He is getting a good foundation for high school and college, and is happy and excited to go to school each day. You can't ask for much more from middle school.

Right off the bat I experienced, saw, and eventually got bullied, discriminated against, and shamed because I was “racist.” There are many kids at this school, for absolutely no reason whatsoever discriminate other people because they are black, white, etc. I have been told I was racist just because I was white. This schools lack of stopping this racism and discrimination is a 1/5. Many of the staff and supervisors would sit around and watch these kids get yelled at and bullied by other kids for absolutely no reason, and they only jump into action if two or more kids get in a fist fight. Are they trying to stop this from happening? Absolutely not. I have not seen any progress of this school getting any better. That’s not all, this school is trashy, there is trash everywhere you step, and no one is doing anything about it. There are seagulls, a major ant problem, even cockroaches. This place is disgusting and the staff does little work to fix this. The teaching, the teachers are great, I have no problems with them, it’s the students. In class I try many times to get my work done, however in each class there are many kids who are loud, noisy, they throw things (pencils, pens erasers, etc) across the classroom. Even in these classrooms there are kids, who are 11-14 year olds, saying slurs, curse words, etc with every sentence. However most of my teachers do not try to stop this. There is even bullying going on in the classrooms. Overall safety. Yes, I know pretty much every school in America has probably gotten a threat before. But, MLK is the only school in the Oceanside Unified District, (that I know of,) that doesn’t have cameras and or any type of security system. If there was an intruder it would be very hard to know of their whereabouts if this school does not have any cameras. The only way you would know is if you heard gunshots / or saw the intruder. This is not safe. Putting kids life at risk just because this school can not afford to get cameras or any type of security system is unacceptable. At this rate, I do not feel safe whatsoever going to MLK each day. If you wish for your child to experience what I just mentioned, go ahead and enroll them into this school. If not, please consider other options and please stay away from this school.

My son really enjoys going to King Middle school. The teachers are experienced, effective and empathetic. My only complaint is that one of his teachers is very vocal about his political views which, in my opinion, should not be brought up in a classroom. This school provides after school sports and encourages students to be respectful and kind. Weekly emails keep parents informed and encourage parents to be involved.

Excellent communication with staff. Teachers are concerned with kids learning and excelling in class.

If you have an IEP or 504 I would steer clear of this school. They miss deadlines, do not effectively implement strategies, dismiss concerns and ignore requests for communication. This is the 6th school we have experienced as a family and it is by far the worst. Bullying and property destruction are commonplace, even teachers are mistreated by students, the school does nothing about it. It has the most middle school students in the district and is the only one without cameras.