Smithton Middle School

I have two children who attend school here. I have had one negative experience with my youngest's first teacher. I tried to address it but it sounds like the school knows and thats just her. Other than that this school has been awesome. They do so many hands on activities to really encourage a love for learning. Minus that one teacher and a couple of the specials teachers, I have had a great experience with them. My kids are always so excited to go!

The school has a very friendly environment. My child is very happy at school and I really appreciate the teachers and the principal.

I went here for half of 2005, before I moved, I don’t recall ever having a problem. The teachers were nice to me and the students cared very much about me. The teacher(s) even sat with me at lunch. When I was sick, All the students could think about was. “Is he gonna be OK?”

I think Columbia Independent School is a bad school for middle school students. There is a lot of cheating on tests and quizzes, and many students use their phones to cheat. Even when teachers catch them, they usually just tell students to put their phones away instead of giving real consequences. The school also seems unfair because some students get treated better than others. There is a lot of bullying, and the staff does not do enough to stop it. Students can humiliate or bully others and still avoid punishment. Many students are rude and disrespectful, which makes school stressful and uncomfortable. The school says it prepares students for college, but it does not provide a fair or safe environment for middle schoolers.

We found that as long as your child fits the typical mold of a given grade, they can do really well here. If they need extra support as a result of a learning disability or behavoiral challenge on any level, the support is very limited to non-existent in some grades.Many of the seasoned veteran teachers have retired and the new ones don't seem to have the same capacity to handle their students with grace and understanding of developmental stages. The growth of the school has caused the Christian segment of their education to be watered down and the students attending are more often from non-church going homes. My students teacher actually stopped bible teaching in 4th quarter. Plus,the entire school year there was little evidence we noticed of increased biblical knowlege in our student.