Farnell Middle School

This school is outstanding. My son has attended for two years and has done amazing. The teacher's are incredibly helpful and are extremely concerned for each student. Since my son began he has been properly assessed and has made a HUGE turn around in his academics. All I can say is that I am very grateful that my son has had the opportunity to attend Farnell Middle.
—Submitted by a parent

After moving here from NY, my daughter was able to adjust quickly. She was welcomed by all teachers and counselors. She also found it to be academically challenging.
—Submitted by a parent

I just love this school!! It's right next to a fancy and award winning from the state elementary school that I went to. There aren't that much bullies compared to other schools.

This school is sad. My son was in advanced classes and his homework consisted of word searches and coloring pages. My son also did not enjoy the complete craziness that ensued in the mornings while waiting for class to start. The teachers did not do a good job of monitoring.
—Submitted by a parent

i honestly love this school if people say its a bad school its not its the best its just some people who have attitudes but if there attitude gets out of controle it will b handled. the education is great all the teachers i know are nice but if u dont diserve the respect of the teachers they wont give it to you i think farnell is a fair school, bad thing is u have to change out in p.e. but u get used to it i reccomend this school!!!!!1

i was a 7th grader at farnell-it was my year though. betwwen bullies and teachers i had to leave schools again in midyear. the teaachers are terrible. i used to be a great behaving students then i got like a weeks worth off iss.

I am in 6th grade at Farnell and I've got to say I think it is an amazing school I am an A B student and have always been in the advanced classes. While some of my 7 classes are very fun and easy they can also be serious and challenging at other times. The teacchers are very nice and treat the students all equally. Some teachers are definitley more leanient then others in ways like projects and other stuff like due dates and also when you can talk and what not. The only thing that I was worried about in the beggining of the year was that for gym we have to change out and even though there were stalls for girls to change in but, honestky you get used to it and when your with your friends you start to feel more confident with it but overall I lovee this school and recommend it for anyone.

I am in 8th great at Farnell, it's my first year here. I must say, I'm anything but impressed with it. If you call the school with a question, after waiting around two months to get back to you, they won't even know the answer to it. While trying to enroll, it took them such a long time to get back to my mother I wasn't even in until 3 days before school started. Almost all of the faculty and staff have treated me and other students with such disrespect, it's insulting. Teachers and other staff jump on any opportunity to yell at me, I don't even want to know what would happen if I actually did something wrong. The education isn't anything great either. My language arts teacher can hardly tell the difference between a noun and a verb. Over all, I would not recommend this school.

My child just finished three wonderful years at Farnell where she earned a Principal's Honor Roll Trophy - 3yrs(means all A's) for very challenging work. Her 8th grade classes included IPS Science (a high school credited class) whose teacher had tutoring on Tuesday evenings for those needing help, along with honors English and a very advanced History class. Her Chorus group thad Superior Ratings for 2009 & 2010 for which she received Hillsborough County medals both years. She scored a perfect FCAT Reading score in 7th grade not missing one question (FCAT for this year has not been released yet) and a great Math score all thanks to the education received here. The administration (headed by Mr Cobb, the principal) has been outstanding as has been the entire staff and teachers. There is no swimming and golf..this is a PUBLIC SCHOOL try Berkley Prep. Start your own Chess Club.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter loves this school she thinks its probably the nest school she has ever been to!
—Submitted by a parent

Farnell is very poorly managed. The staff don't go out of their way to help anyone. The school is very large so not many students get to participate in sports.
—Submitted by a parent

This school has a horrible environment. My grandchild went there and it was nothing but trouble from day one. Very poor leadership and poor attitudes from teachers. This school is very negative toward the children.

Everyone really cares about the children from the principle to the cafeteria workers.
—Submitted by a parent

Although well-rated by greatschools and in a nice neighborhood, we're frustrated with Farnell MS (perhaps normal for fl schools?): Poor atmosphere - constant cursing + daily bullying + rare and ineffectual discipline = students who don't want to be at Farnell (the offenders or victims). Questionable security/trust- Farnell principal chose not to address parents concerns for what could easilly happen here, regarding the recent tragic bullying case at nearby MS in same district with the same ineffectual anti-bullying processes. Non-challenging academics - 'top' classes boring for 'a' students. Few extracurrculars - (no swimming, golf, chess, clubs...). Summary - we're trying to get our kid into a magnet school where kids want to be, learn and positively interact with one another.
—Submitted by a parent

As a parent, I have to say that I agree with the posting by the parent on May 14th. There is definitely no extra help available. As a concerned parent, I also found that the teachers often became angry when you questioned them about your child's grades or school lessons. The principal (Mr. Cobb) and the other administrators are not great because they stand by the teachers no matter what. I believe there is some truth to what some of the students are saying in regards to the teachers and have witnessed it for myself. Some of the teachers are not as computer savvy and often mix up the grades. I had to get my daughter to keep copies of all her papers because the teachers were misplacing grades and not recording them properly. Avoid the chorus all together because IT IS HORRIBLE!
—Submitted by a parent

If your child needs any extra help, good luck.This school's administration does not hold their teacher's accountable for anything.An online grading system is set up so that parents may monitor the child's grades but the teacher's are not required to participate and most don't.There is a glich in their computer system that randomly blocks parents emails to teachers so you never know if a teacher received an email.As an active parent who has one child with outstanding grades and one child who needs extra assistance,this school is only an 'A' school for those children who are self motivated. For the rest, your child will get lost. This school has a serious lack of administrative guidance and control.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school, but I think students should be given more notice about upcoming events
—Submitted by a student

my son goes to farnell, i think the teachers are awesome.
—Submitted by a parent

i when there... and i can tell is a really good school !!! i mean like i learn a lot and i realy liked my teacher they were friendly and also help me a lot because i didnt speak english back there and they did their best when i got to high school i got all my classes advance and AP =)

We were very disappointed with this school. After 1 semester in the 7th grade we pulled our daughter and put her in privates school. She was in all honors classes and the curriculum was so below level in our opinions. She was not challenged whatsoever. I would not recommend this school for various reasons, but I will just say that education should be the most important reason, and the education there is not up to par, in our opinions and in our daughters.
—Submitted by a parent