North Pines Middle School

If I could give less than one star, I would. I have put 4 students through this school, and at every turn we have been presented with issue after issue. I certainly wouldn't expect a middle school to be a perfect place, we all know what middle school is like. Kids at that age have a lot going on and stuff happens. With that said however, Npms does not do Anything to help when the situation surpasses what is acceptable. The bullying my kids have dealt with is appalling and the staff did next to nothing to help. When they have needed extra help in classes, it has been incredibly hard to get extra assistance. I have a Special needs son who was regularly put into situation that they knew very well he could not handle. There was absolutely no support or help provided to him or our family as far as social and emotional guidance or intervention. He was regularly removed from class, but given no alternative work or task to complete. And I was never notified of his removal or when he was struggling. There were MANY opportunities for them to provide help and support that they simple chose not too. I was Actively seeking a solution for my son that would better suit him, and despite having resources that could have been provided they fell short every time. If your child has special needs.. DO NOT SEND THEM HERE! I promise you they cannot support them/you the way you deserve!!

This school has never been the premiere middle school in Spokane and never will be... I've come to accept that. But this is my third kid attending this school and I have to say it's somehow gone even further downhill. It's bad enough that I'm finally fed up enough to spend the time to write this review. My particular concern is with [the Language Arts & Social Justice teacher]. I firmly believe that my daughter is not receiving the kind of instruction she needs to be successful. My husband agrees that she is far behind where my other two kids were at this point. We as parents accept we need to do our part, as well, and will be devoting additional time to assist our daughter in making sure she is reaching her targets. But the bottom line is that this "teacher" has no business as this school. Like I said, I know this isn't a top-flight school, but for heavens sake, let's have some standards people! She clearly doesn't care about our kids and is just going through the motions. I don't know how they calculate the Test Scores on this site, but I think "47%" versus the average of "60%" is probably pretty fair. That's not entirely on her by any means, but that's where I feel my kid is right now... behind... by a lot. My daughter feels defeated and ashamed about how she's performing relative to some of her closest friends. Thanks a ton, [Language Arts & Social Justice teacher]. Keep up the good work [sarcastically writes]. I know I'm not the only one feeling this way and will be encouraging my fellow parents to reach out both on here and to the school admins to try and enact some form of change.

Would highly recommend sending your teenager anywhere else. I won't name the language arts teacher, that has been a nightmare to deal with but I think many parents struggle to work with someone like her. Wish they would listen to students and their parents, huge lack of respect in general.

North Pines has a few good teachers and staff you actually care about the kids succeeding. Not included in those staff members would be their Secretary who handles attendance. Her general attitude towards parents and kids is very poor, as she is usually completely bothered by having to interact with either of those groups. If you are in need of important items or information regarding your child, take my advice and avoid this woman at all costs, as she could care less about the needs of the community that she is working for.

As a whole, I think this school is one of the better ones in the Spokane area. I feel a lot of the issues it has is with the parents themselves. Example: A lot of parents show no respect for other people or their students, only the parent's own child. During a recent concert, parents sat in the same seats that students were supposed to be in, just because they didn't want to sit in the bleachers, so there were students with $2,000 - $3,000 instruments being forced to sit on the floor.Respect goes both ways, and parents contribute just as much to a child's learning experience as teachers do. But just looking at only an academic aspect, I would encourage NPMS any day.