Highland Park Middle School

This school supports everybody and is extremely good academically. Classes are harder than normal and the school offers a variety of electives and advanced courses, with many classes on STEM Such as Intro to Engineering, Digital Media, etc. The school is predominantly white but discrimination is far and in between. The teachers work very hard and truly engage students.

I am so grateful I was given the opportunity by my parents to leave this school. After 4 years of bullying by students and teachers, I can confidently say that it takes a specific type of person to thrive here. The arts receive little to no support and has experienced extreme staff turnover in the past 4 years. If you are interested exclusively in sports (and are good at them) maybe you’ll enjoy your experience. Additionally if you are not rich, white, or straight you will be SEVERELY bullied and the school does nothing to punish bullies. Academics are satisfactory for the average student, but if you want to be challenged, look elsewhere. I am grateful for the few teachers who cared about me, although majority have left due to being severely underpaid.

I am a current student at HPMS, and It is commonly known that the teachers get VERY underpaid, which is why many teachers have quit. I haven't had a day when all 8 of my teachers have been here at once and, commonly, teachers are gone at least once a week. HPMS is in a substitute shortage. Why have such a large beautiful school building when we are expected to do most of our work at home? I believe that the curriculum should be more spread out, giving the students more time to learn the essential information, instead of cramming it and asking students to study, (teach themselves the subject), at home.

In October 2021, my black daughter was called the n-word by a white student. Simply because he thought it would be funny to do so. My daughter acted immediately to inform the AP and shared her witnesses. Once home she also informed her parents. However, I was never notified by the school. The next morning I arrived to talk to the AP who acknowledged his error in not informing us (however, this lack of communication continued as I had to consistently follow-up). The AP shared my daughters account of the situation was accurate. I stated given the hateful nature of intimidation and bullying, the child should be removed from my daughters classes as well as receive out of school suspension. Neither occurred. The overarching theme in the handling of this has been to dismiss and ignore. The messaging to my daughter and our family has been- its okay. As an adult female who has lived in several parts of the country I have NEVER had this experience- yet, while at HPMS, my 13 yr old daughter has. For the record, this behavior is UNACCEPTABLE. Given the lack of response and concern, this behavior will not only continue at HPMS but will fester. It is apparent the safety of their students- both mentally and physically- is not a priority and I will be removing my daughter from the district.

I am giving this school and its faculty 1 star only because there is not an option to give it zero stars! There are 2 teachers that bully and degrade their students publicly. Teachers are supposed to protect our children - not hurt them. I am going to include the school principal in this group as he is fully aware of this situation and has done nothing about it. Shame on all of you!