Bear Valley Middle School

I thought initially Bear Valley was a good school. After attending for 2 years now, I am disgusted. My son regularly tells me that the teachers don't care, just want a paycheck, and don't help the kids. I've had multiple problems with teacher misbehavior, and admin only covers up for the misconduct of staff. Tenured government teachers cannot be fired. My son was very bored and unchallenged. But that is ok, because they lost our business. We got into a great charter school and the teachers are 1000% more effective. Good riddance Bear Valley and public government schools. I hope the teachers with fact salaries, great benefits and 4 months of annual vacation enjoy it, they are doing a horrible job from what they taught my kid. My son loves science and art. Both His and Art teachers at Bernardo discouraged him with their by the numbers teaching. You could hire a circus monkey or robot and save big to do the job of public school teachers who won't take questions and won't give positive feedback to kids. The Blob is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced.
--Submitted by a parent

Best thing about the school: Band teacher is excellent. Worst thing about the school: everything else. My son was GATE, the instruction was so terrible that I removed him from school half way through 6th grade and home schooled him. The biggest problem with Escondido public schools is that they are browning. Forget "no child is left behind," in EUSD it's "no child can get ahead." Curriculum is at a snail's pace in an attempt to close the gap between english second language learners and Americans.
--Submitted by a parent

Fairly nice school, great band teacher, my child is mostly happy but it feels like there is an anti Juniper snobbery thing going on. My child came from Juniper and is one of only two Juniper students allowed in the GATE/pre-algebra math class. When parents volunteered to help in the class to help kids with their writing, a parent working with my child laughed at her when she told her she came from Juniper. Parents have the opportunity to meet with and have coffee with the principal but this occurs in the mornings when working class parents are working. I get the feeling that many parents would rather not have Juniper as one of the feeder schools to Bear Valley. Some parents and teachers lack cultural/class awareness and sensitivity.
--Submitted by a parent

What the other reviewers said about petty infractions is true. They give infractions for crossing some yellow line at school. Or not following the smallest class room rules. Also my child keeps telling me some of the teachers don't care about the kids and are just teaching for the money. And they never fail to have fund raisers besides California spending more money on their teachers than just about any other state. Some of the classes are interesting, my child said robotics and dance are fun, but the art class sucked. No talking and you have to draw exactly what the art teacher, Terrilyn Quick says. Bear Valley has found a way to make even art a drag! Oh and the teachers and principal sporadically answer email. If they have time.
--Submitted by a parent

My son was an excellent student and well behaved in sixth grade. In seventh he racked up 27 infractions which i never was informed about until he was facing expulsion. I had noticed some problems with him and schoolwork and asked the counselor to talk to him but they never mentioned the sudden behavior change so that I could address it. They should have said something before it got that bad, I was shocked.
--Submitted by a parent

Not impressed with the so-called priorities set by Principal and staff, ie: I waited three days for a return email about my student, finally sent another email ... and was told that he was busy counseling teachers who were laid off. HUH? Those are adults who can cope with life just as the rest of us adults are expected to do. I didn't appreciate having my student's needs sloughed aside that way. Also, the office employees may whine about understaffing, but they should still be able to get their jobs done adequately. If they don't like the money or the duties, they can quit and let someone else who cares step up to fill the positions. And ... being bi-lingual should NEVER be a requirement for working at a public school that my tax dollars help pay for. English is the language here NOT Espanol.
--Submitted by a parent

My child started here enrolled in GATE and had always been good at math. Within 2 years he was floundering and had to be moved to another class. Without even telling us, they moved him out of the gate program. His self confidence is nonexistent at this point. Also, every year, first week of class, the teachers give out infractions for the most petty mistakes imaginable. Then the other students watch as, for the rest of the year, the same things are ignored. I only wish i had known about K-8 heritage school before we sent our son here.
--Submitted by a parent

i love this school because it lets you get away with only being good!
--Submitted by a student

BVMS is an example of a great middle school attempting to meet the needs of many different ethnicities, educational levels and social-economic levels all at once. The teachers, for the most part, are very genuinely concerned about the student's progress towards a higher education. There are a few teachers who seem way too strict on discipline with teenagers, but it is probably better to be too strict than not strict enough. With the exception of some very young gang member activity in the parking lot before and after school, this is a good school. Thank you for providing an excellent educational opportunity for all of the children who attend.
--Submitted by a parent

My teachers are nice and I like having them for two years. BVTV is an awesome program. I am an anchor on it and i love it. Everyday it is one of my normal classes!
--Submitted by a student