Colina Middle School

When I think about my children and school I think first of their safety, then their health, their education and finally their happiness. Against all four of these key areas I can say that Colina Middle School has surpassed any of the others schools my children have attended.Several of which were federally recognized Blue Ribbon schools. The teachers at Colina are dedicated beyond their obligations, the clerical staff ether in the general, counseling or attendance offices are extremely professional, incredible helpful and genuinely friendly. In all the years of my interaction with administrators I have never found a group more committed to my children's welfare and never have I found a principal who sacrifices so much to ensure that students who attend Colina are treated with respect and enjoy the most enriching experience possible.Parents have many options today where their children can attend school but from this one parent's prospective not only is Colina Middle School a good choice it would be my only choice.This year Colina will graduate my youngest and she follows 3 of her sisters who passed before her so I guess I have made a choice and couldn't be happier with the selection
--Submitted by a parent

Speaking as a student who has is currently attending Colina Middle School, I have seen various levels of courtesy and patience from the staff members. It is my belief (and it is very much appreciated) that all school staff members should have an optimistic attitude and should be willing to help. However, nearly every day on our school campus, I run into some sort of mishap with a staff member. Some of the office/counseling staff is almost always very rude, contrary to what it should be (many students go to both these locations every day). Some of the teachers here are shockingly bitter and speak to us students in a belittling tone. I like having teachers whom I can respect, and I enjoy being in a comfortable, helpful school environment. What I do not appreciate is being snapped at for accidents or things of which I am not at fault (I accidentally knocked over a bottle of soap and rushed to pick it up and apologized, yet I was yelled at by an overly frustrated teacher. I have been studying during the SURE hour, making a valuable use of the time, and had my materials confiscated. The materials were not returned.) Colina has some great teachers, but the school needs some help.

This is a response to the post about book distribution on 8/23. Context may help. Numerous parents asked Colina to distribute textbooks prior to school starting, as do most public and private middle schools, because of the value parents and teachers place on instructional time from the first day of school and to relieve physical demands of students having to carry around a full set of textbooks. And Colina appreciates the parents and students who volunteered many hours of time to help with distribution. Because of their proficiency, it may have seemed as though more staff individuals were assisting than actually were. As a convenience to parents, Colina honored all requests to come on a different distribution day than was scheduled, and parents could come at any time during their designated day's open hours. Once again, we are thankful to all those who lent a hand this first time around (6000 distributed before closing time on both days despite a 2nd scanner becoming inoperable), as we strive to benefit Colina students.
--Submitted by a teacher

This school is a gamble. One year you may get lucky and have a good instructor and another year get some really bad. As a prior reviewer already stated, you'll get lip service in order to appease your complaints. Unfortunately the school is unable to resolve the issues with poor quality instructors due to the union / tenure. Every year here seems like it's the first year they have been in business . . . newbies at best. The teacher communication is good when they want parents to donate to their classroom needs. I thought a public education was paid with public tax dollars. Now the teachers claim that in class experiments require donations or they will be pulled which reduces the ability for them to educate our childeren. Appears to me the school needs to learn how to be frugal with their expenses and they would not be asking for handouts. Parents should consider gathering their resources together to create a Charter Middle School like others have recently done in Conejo.
--Submitted by a parent

Looks like a trend of disorganization. This year the school decides to distribute school books 1-2 days before school which took over 1 hour compared to distributing the books in PE class which took 10 minutes. Guess the decision makers at this school care more about 10 minutes of class time and not about parents time. On the first day of book distribution there was hardly nobody there but if you're last name ends between M-Z, then you could not get your book until the next day. Of course that is the day which everyone shows up since it's the last day before school starts. Guess the decision makers are not educated enough to understand most people will procrastinate until the last minute. The major bottleneck appeared to be a single barcode scanner in the library. Take 1,100 students and multiply that by 4-5 books on the average. This is why everyone was waiting. Guess they're not educated enough to understand that two barcode scanners were faster than one. Yes, they had the staff available to operate two scanners. Since this school continues to disrespect parents and continues to be disorganized, I'll be researching non-public institutions.
--Submitted by a parent

I agree with the prior review the office staff is incredibly rude but they don't teach my child so I'll try to overlook that. My child was in all honors, it's a mix bag here when it comes to the teachers. He has had some of the best teachers here and worse. The problem is when you complain about a teacher, there is realy nothing they do but give you lip service. I understand the teacher tenure protects teachers, in a extreme case the most they do is transfer them to other schools within the district, that doesn't solve the problem. There is no accountability for teachers. The school is on top of it with kids bullying other kids but once again if they have a disruptive child or a child caught with drugs on campus they just transfer kids to another school within the district instead of providing them with the help that they really need.
--Submitted by a parent

The most disorganized school I've ever seen in my 50 years of life! I've been to many, many, many schools and never seen anything like this. Some teachers just dont care and the others are obviously amateurs. The office staff (if you can find one) and the counseling office are rude. They make me feel like I'm bothering them to ask a simple question. Open house is a nightmare as there was no useful information available and once again disorganized. The dean blames the student when the office staff looses paperwork that the student submitted. The counseling office treats me (parent) like a 6th grader. Obviously the leadership at this school is quite incompetent. I'm done with this place!
--Submitted by a parent

The faculty and staff really put kids first. Even with the current budget crunch, they find ways to provide our children with the best education possible and are there to make sure not one student is left out or left behind.
--Submitted by a parent

5 star school. excellent, hands on, accessible principal & counselors, lots of school spirit, excellent teachers and encouragement to be the best you can be. Model middle school!! should be.
--Submitted by a parent

Best school ive been to. Everyone is so supportive and all the staff takes time to actually get to know each and every student. Academics are excellent and the teachers make the criteria you are learning fun and interesting. Each staff member is so passionate about their jobs and learns hoe to work with and love each and every student. Go Cougars! I love Colina!
--Submitted by a parent