Bell Mountain Middle School

My son has been attending this school for about 7 months now. I don't dislike the school, but don't find anything about it that screams "Wow"! I am turned off by the lack of follow through with school officials and their in ability to follow through with return calls and communication and the lack of activities available to students in/outside of school. One more year and hopefully we will able to get him into a better school district with more to offer students.
--Submitted by a parent

Bell Mountain has great teachers who care about their students' success.
--Submitted by a parent

I was very disappointed with this school, I felt that the teachers, administration lacked greatly in their ability to promote learning skills, critical thinking and problem solving. I found the teachers were ingenuine with their 'caring' attitude as it was doled out evenly throughout the classroom even after some children were found to be problem makers. The administration was non chalant with misbehavior, and to the victims of student abuse. I did find their extra cirricular activities to be stimulating and readily available to the students, along with their music program to be the only redeeming quality about this school. I am pleased that my child was able to transfer out of this school.
--Submitted by a parent

Bell Mountain is a wonderful school. The teachers and the programs they offer have helped both my children grow and excel.
--Submitted by a parent

I thought Bell Mountain was an excellent school. Clean campus, good teachers; we were very pleased.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had 2 children go through BMMS and have not been impressed either time. One of my children was teased and tormented for 3 years and the teachers and administration did nothing. My other child was repeatedly singled out for dress code violations while many, many others were allowed to consistently violate the dress code. I am a teacher myself and I can tell you there has been zero differentiation or in-class modifications for my GATE student. Despite the fact that the law says that he has special needs as a GATE student, he received the exact same instruction and assignments as all of the other students in class. BMMS hides behind its nice campus and high test scores, but fails to address the real issues facing students. On a scale of 1 - 10, I rate BMMS a '3.'
--Submitted by a parent

Bell Mountain Middle School has more extracurricular activities than any other school within fifty miles. There is an extensive interscholastic sports program that includes flag football, volleyball, basketball, cross country, wrestling, and softball. There is an extensive band program that offers both before and after school activities. There are an abundance of after school GATE activities; however, the bulk of the GATE enrichment takes place in the classrooms as teachers differentiate the curriculum. More often than not, the individual GATE students are not directly aware that this is even happening. BMMS is a great school where students labor in a safe and orderly environment and where discipline is consistently enforced in accordance with district and state policy.

BMMS has an inconsistently-applied discipline policy, and a punitive approach to problems. The result is victimized children who feel responsible for attacks on them. This school's administration is seriously lacking training, sensitivity, common sense and proactive measures for student safety. They sweep problems under the rug and superficially meet written protocol, while ignoring the legislative intent and mandatory training. Their inconsistency sends a dangerous message to young children, especially girls. I welcome personal contact to discuss this further with parents.
--Submitted by Julia Smithson, a parent

I attended Bell Mountain all three years of middle school. I have no bad comments to say about the school. The teachers are so caring and personal I know that if I ever have a question on homework in high school I can always go back to BMMS and have someone help me out. There are so many opportunites there to get involved too I was involved in many clubs and loved them all. There are lots of athletic opportunities also this school has basketball, football, cross country, track, wrestling, cheer, dance, volleyball, and softball. That is a lot for a middle school. Bell Mountain is just a great place and I am deeply sadened that it has come time for me to leave it behind
--Submitted by a student

I currently have my third child at BMMS. We came from a distressed school in Orange County, this more 'affluent' school does not even compare. The administration micromanages the kids and not enough time on developing academics. The GATE program is practically nonexistent and focuses on extracurricular activities which I feel is a contradiction to its mission. I cannot figure out where the enormous amount of supplemental taxes that go to this school district, are being used. Very disappointing school.
--Submitted by a parent