Columbia Middle School

Hey! Former student here. I recently had my FINAL day at Dartmouth. Moving on to middle school. Yayyy! Anyways, here are my thoughts on everything included on here.First, the learning. Some students are motivated and excited about whatever we're learning, some are completely disinterested in the learning. There is a bit of an in between, but it's pretty much you're interested, or you're disinterested. Teaching! The teachers are amazing. I've only flat out been barred from the education I needed once. And that teacher didn't really know what I was capable of doing. In my opinion, that's pretty good! Now, I'm sort of excluding the specialists. My honest opinion on the specialists isn't great. Three out of the four just sort of wait for a student to do something wrong and then get them in trouble when they do catch them doing something wrong. And it's only a couple of kids that get in trouble by them. Even when it is a thing that everyone can do sometimes. It's messed up.Social-emotional support is alright. Social workers are meh, the counselor is outstanding. The social workers just kinda tell your parents NEARLY everything you say and it feels icky.Special education is OUTSTANDING. They provide the needed support and accomodations for those with disabilities.The safety is a big yikes. This has happened multiple times. So, I was late by like 5, 10, or 15 minutes a lot. So, I'm ten minutes late. The doors are supposed to be closed by 9:05. So I get to the back of the school, what do I see? Two entry points wide open without supervision. It takes less than a minute to walk into the school. That's the scary part. Thank goodness nothing has happened.Lastly, the family engagement is pretty good. I have nothing more to say.

My first grader has an IEP witch they did not follow the IEP, we had so many talks with them about it and they just brush it off, my son has autism and elopes so we had told them time and time again that he need close supervision in just 2 years he has made it out side the school grounds 5 times and they brush it off like it is nothing so who knows how many kids have eloped and they did not mention it to the parents Also my kindergartener eloped during recess and made it all the way home about 5 blocks from the school, he was gone for about 20 mins before they realized he was gone they do not keep track of the students at all

The school does an excellent job at bringing the community together with special events such as Back to School Night, School Carnival, Trunk or Treat, Family Field Day and their Culture Night. The staff really pitches in to make the students and their familes feel welcome. My kids have always had a positive experience here. We are a multicultural family and I have seen many staff members who speak spanish helping other families who need assistance. A very caring school community.

Do not send your kid to the school if they have special needs. You will not have the help that you need. They will put you through circles and confuse you and not help. For example, my fifth grader is at a kindergarten level because they continued to push him through each grade, even though he was far behind everybody else. I would not recommend the school to anybody that wants their kid to have a one on one para if your kid elopes or has behavior problems. They do not have enough staff to take care of each student.

This is a great school with many amazing long time teaching staff. I am so glad I sent my kiddos here! The great schools rating is not accurate for how fantastic a school this is. I’ve learned you cannot look at the rating to pick a school. My children are supported here and love to learn which is the biggest win. I feel like it’s a regular school similar to what I went to growing up before teachers started teaching according to standardized tests. They let kids be kids here and the teachers are great! The student body is diverse - all races and income levels which I feel is healthy to expose my child to. One of my kiddos is on an IEP and I cannot say enough wonderful things about the IEP support staff. My child is catching up! My son’s teacher told me her kids will go to school here. I know a principal of another school that sends his children here. I heard the after school care program is probably the best in the district/state. I have met with the new principal and she is a lovely lady that has made lots of amazing changes to the school like an extra recess for kiddos (helps them learn better after getting all the wiggles out and very needed for my adhd kiddo). The specials teachers are all great too.