Grace Yokley Middle School

Parent of 2 children, we were an MTV family for 4 years (2021-2025). We chose MTV because the Dual Language Immersion ("DLI") program was very appealing to us. Since we started school right out of Covid, we were very understanding with teacher absence, changing howework and study policies, screen time, and remote learning. Over time, we noticed that both student attrition and teacher turnover is very, very high. We have gone through 2 principals, 1 music teacher, and 3 DLI teachers have come and gone. The school uses Class Dojo for teacher-parent communication.DLI: Kinder, First, and Third grade have excellent teachers. DLI is not offered for TK. Not all DLI teachers are native Spanish speakers. The model is supposed to be 50% English, 50% Spanish, but is closer to 80/20 when you factor in that PE, music, and art and garden time is conducted in English. Parents have asked for more Spanish books in the library which was granted with some resistance. Parents have asked for Spanish book clubs or after-school learning in a fun environment to promote Spanish speaking, as of this review neither have been implemented. In-class screen time is a little high in my opinion, almost all reading and testing is performed on an iPad. Starting the morning with screen time is not ideal, but I also understand the teachers must made do with the tools they are given.The school curriculum is not very rigorous. I have two high performers, yet much of learning takes place at home. Music and track are offered starting 4th grade. Robotics was offered for the first time during Spring '25 for 3rd grade and above. Because the DLI cohorts stay in the same group as they go from grade to grade, we have gotten to know the other students and their families very well. Tutoring in math and Spanish is very limited and not available for all students whose parents want them to improve. From a school culture perspective, the environment is extremely welcoming. We have used on campus therapy/counseling services offered, and the same counselor did not return the following year (we only used it 2 school yrs).PreK: State funded and on-campus. Has it's own enclosed playground and pickup/dropoff gate. Children have 2 in-class restrooms. Amazing group of teachers! Mrs Madisenne and her team are top notch, extremely patience and kind, and they host MONTHLY parent-student activities and 2 singing performances (winter and spring). PreK was our favorite time at MTV.

Most of the staff are friendly. But the principal, Amanda Colon is horrible. She doesn’t truly care about partnering with parents. I’ve heard multiple complaints from parents regarding how rude she is.

This school have rude staff. They're not helpful at all. So many things wrong with this school I can't list them all. This school needs improvement in so many ways. If anyone form the school district can see this please please please get new staff or give them better training.

Levi Dickey is a great school. They are working hard to improve academically. The Pto parent organization is highly involved in helping the school and students. The funds raised go mainly to support teachers by funding supply grants and teacher wish list items. I don't know why many people in the community take their kids to another school that they don't belong to. I feel like there are too many wrongly negative comments about our school.

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