Dr. Helen Baldwin Middle School

This school treated me very rudely ,i tried many times to ask for extra help and they would not help ...after tring out for the talent show my teacher came up to me and said that i would not make it in because i 'stink' at singing ...mind you i was in 6th grade
--Submitted by a student

Excellent teachers and support for the students
--Submitted by a parent

I really like this school. The staff there is excellent. The year goes by quick when you go there. Gym is a little hard... but is still good. They treat us students strictly but that is how we should learn. In a lot of the subjects and main subjects, we get to play fun learning games. Mr. Simkowski in the fifth grade made two games, war, and the hackysack game. Both use a hackysack and you have to answer science based questions. Overall, I think this is an excellent school.
--Submitted by a student

My son is in the sixth grade and has always been an overachiever in academics before we moved here last year. The staff is very stuck up especially in the office. I have gone to every parent teacher conference they held and it never changed. The first one I thoought they were on top of things they mentioned every negative aspect of my child from not bringing gym clothes to missing science projects. As any parent I asked to be kept aware of any missing assignments ,clothes, or simple lack of participation and they seemed more than happy to cooperate. IAbout a week later communication stopped completely and we thoughrt our son was just having adjustment issues the first quarter and that he was good.grades were still low same comments listed but when asked they were to busy to call everytime .
--Submitted by a parent

I frankly am a little surprised with the reviews I ve read on Dr. Helen Baldwin Middle School. I noticed only 4 from parents. Judging from the content and presentation of the rest I believe these are probably from current students. I have had a very good experience with this school. My daughter transferred to DHBMS at the beginning of her 5th grade year. She had come from another school system in Connecticut that was on the verge of sending her on the path to failure and subsequently hating school. She struggled with her academics and the social issues that were allowed to go unsupervised. When she entered 5th grade at DHBMS she began to bloom. Children and staff were friendly, helpful and fully accepting of the new kid . Her grades improved and after the first parent - teacher conference and a discussion about her past academic struggles and a medical condition, the principal and the educational team began the ball rolling. Within a few months she had had all the testing and tools put into place that she needed to help her become successful. To make this short she made honors by the end of that school year. She is no longer stressed and anxious about school, has a ton of friends and has set goals for herself that I know she will obtain without the struggle that was almost destined to happen. She almost doubled her prior year s CMT scores! I have noticed that a lot of residents of Canterbury have long family history in the town. They are not able to compare what they have here to other schools. It may be worth it to speak with people in other districts and make some comparisons. I also have observed during the budget process that people find raising the budget and thus taxes , too much of a strain on their finances. While I don t disagree, unfortunately good education isn t cheap. You do the best you can with the money you have. In sum I have found the children at DHBMS cheerful, friendly and intelligent. I am proud that my child is now part of that community. This is a reflection, at least in part, of what the staff at DHBMS has accomplished. So CUDOS to all! Parent
--Submitted by a parent

My child attended middle school here and had an absolutely horrible experience. He's now at Woodstock Academy, doing well and having no issues whatsoever with the administration. I cannot agree more emphatically with the negative comments other parents have left regarding the school principal. I was so sorry to see the superintendant leave because she was the administrator who clearly cared about the kids. I'm not convinced anyone else at this school really does. Like the parent who reports considering private schooling in order to remove her student from DHBMS, I entertained the same thoughts when my son attended there. I regret not having followed my instincts. It would have saved him numerous unpleasant experiences.
--Submitted by a parent

My child is doing well in this school. She likes her teachers. She is involved with arts. The teachers are helpful and appear to care about how she is doing.
--Submitted by a parent

Baldwin is a mess. The administration is a joke and the teachers are just condecending to parents. I can not believe that some of them are still working with the kids. Information on your child is never forthcoming you have to find out by accident most of the time. The town issues flow over to the school and vital programs such as forreign language are cut while others like Home Ec stay. Is my child going to be ready for High School in 2 years with this kind of system?? I think not. Catholic school is looking better and better by the day.
--Submitted by a parent

Dr. Helen Baldwin MS could be better. The teaching is good; leadership ok. It could be better though with a supportive town and selectmen. The teachers/principal are not very parent friendly. This would be very helpful if they would encourage parent participation. I have tried to help, even subbed for the school. Teachers are very cliquey and the principal, who is well intentioned, is a little too possessive. It's OUR school not hers. This town is going thru much turmoil which will hopefully change but it will take a long time for that to happen due to the animosity and adversarial conditions.
--Submitted by a parent

I used to go to baldwin. I thought it was very fun even though I almost failed most of the time. I do recommend the school though. the sports were great when I was there I don't know how they are now. we won baseball and basketball championships my eigth grade year. The teachers aren't as good as they could be and I suspect that some of them are not qualified to teach the subjects they are teaching. the middle school is better than the elementary school though. if you're a parent reading this, don't let the guidence department touch your child. they put my little brother in the spec. ed. department for no reasons. I was class of '03 by the way. I gotta holla out to kyle, costa, taylor, charlie, ben, corie, brian, brent, brendan, justin, reed, and anyone else I missed.
--Submitted by a former student