Mckinley Classical Leadership Academy

It’s a pretty good school and compared to other schools from our district it has a high rating. I’m currently a 7th grader at the school so about two years in and nothing terrible has happened. Assignments are based on which teacher you have and it is a gifted school so you should expect more than normal. Lunch is decent not the best but it’s not the worst. School is pretty big so it can be a chore trying to learn your way around it but after a week or month you’ll get used to it. :) I’ve made a bunch of friends at this school and found some old ones that went to others school or transferred. Most kids don’t hate each other and I’ve never seen any fights before so that’s pretty good compared to when I went to elementary and there were fights oh every week or so. To rate the school 9/10 it’s good and of course there are some things you can improve with it but for what’s it worth it’s alright. Also be prepared that when you enter your supposed to be scanned by a police officer at the front door or in the morning by Door 12. You’ll need to pass a metal detector so take off any electronics you have on you and put them in your book bag so it won’t beep so they won’t have to pat you down like it happened to me on my first day haha. There are 4 floors Basement, Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Basement is just cafeteria, health, dance, comp. science, and the normal bathrooms. The first floor or level 1 in my opinion is mostly 6th grade math, ela, social studies or ancient civilizations if you want to get fancy, science, art, computer lab, another health/science, and gym. Level 2 or 2nd floor is mostly 7th graders ela, choir, math, social studies, another social studies, a room idk, science, Spanish and more rooms idk since I haven’t been to that far of the hallway. Level 3 or 3rd Floor is just 8th and high schoolers so idk what’s up there since I’m not in any of those classes. Well, I hope this was enough information for you to know if this is the school you want your child to go to. Also if you’ve been to Kennard CJA or Mallimckrodt you might have a better possibility of getting into this school but I’m not 100% sure. But since those are both gifted elementary schools and this is a gifted middle school so you get the connection. If you haven’t your going to need for your child or kid or whomever to take the gifted enrichment test to see if they at least qualify for maybe taking up the spot which can be done downtown office. Well that is all folks. See ya. :)

Excellent. Teachers are well prepared and willing to work with students who are smart but need coaxing to draw out their full potential.

Both my kids are here. McKinley has been a very good school for them. It's not perfect but they do great things with the limitations of being in an under-resourced system. It is a safe school with minimal drama among smart, engaged kids.

We have sent our children here for both middle school and high school. We have high expectations when it comes to academics and McKinley is definitely challenging. Their core curriculum is sound and some of the less effective teachers have been weeded out since some of these posts were last written. I wish they had more course electives and more extra curriculars. It would be great if they added Spanish as a language choice. (Only French is available right now). Also wish they could do more field trips but these, like expanded course choices, cost money that the district doesn't have. Even free events in town aren't free if you have to pay $300 per bus to get there! Kids have gone on to ivy schools from here and to excellent state and private colleges and universities, but I wish McKinley would encourage more of their brightest students to be more aspirational in their college selection. Too many are going on to marginally accredited colleges and tech schools. If a student's parents don't know how to conduct a college search, the student may end up in a less than optimal college situation. But if you're an involved parent, your student will do very well here.

My daughter is an 8th grader at McKinley CJA. She is new this year to the school and it has been a challenge for her academically. Though she has been in the gifted program since 1st grade, her previous middle school didn't challenge her nor was it "cool" try hard and excel in academics. Finding McKinley has been an amazing change in our daughter's life. She is taking all high school level courses, even Spanish 3 (!) as an 8th grader, and though it is really hard for her academically, she loves getting up for school everyday. She said to me, "Mom the kids at McKinley are different than my old school. I can't get bad grades and be cool here!" She even gets up at 4 am every morning to get ready for the 30 minute drive to school. The smaller school is great as well. Everyone has accepted and welcomed her. The teachers and administration are are willing participants in her success. We have signed up to continue with McKinley through High School as well.