Duluth Middle School

The problems at DMS start with the students and are not corrected by the teachers or administration. My child is a student who has been bullied. It was reported, and what did the administration do? Ask my child what he/she did to provoke the bullying. Bullying is such a problem at this school that I know of 3 students (mine included) that won't be returning, choosing to be home schooled or taking courses online instead! Wake up DMS! Bullying is a serious problem which this school's teachers and administration continue to ignore. Please, be proactive - do something to protect our children. They have the right to feel safe at school!
--Submitted by a parent

I am an 8th grade student, and I have been going to duluth for a year and a half. I have read alot of the reviews and i believe that most of them are untrue. The PROBE courses are amazing and i love all of them. It is true that alot of the teachers are requiring the students to self teach, but all that really means is that the teachers are MAKING thhe student read their textbook at home instead of school. Then the next day the teachers go over the chapter that was assigned and asks the stu/dents if they have any questions. In all honestly the sports teams here are terrible, but this is school, where you learn. If someone wanted to play a sport they could always go to a club, which is usuually cheaper than school sports anyways. We don't get to choose our classes, but no one ever seems to mind it much. The lunches used to be decent, but they have gone downhill this year. Cursing isn't only done by students here, but it can be found everywhere. We are teenagers and I can promise you that foul language can be found in every middle school.I absolutely love going to DMS and I think your kid(s) will too.

I think that your opinion of Duluth Middle really depends on which classes you re in.. If you are in PROBE, it is generally a good school. Not the best, but its not too bad. I m in PROBE classes and it s pretty challenging at times (I m in 7th grade). What I don t always like is that in PROBE, the students usually have to learn on their own instead of the teacher teaching it. For example, we have hw on a completely new topic and then we review it in class. I don t really like that. The regular classes are HORRIBLE. Trust me, if you re a regular student you do NOT want to go here. In this case, it is a very bad school. The teachers don t even care if kids curse. Also the school is EXTREMELY cheap and the lunches are horrible. In general, if you are not in PROBE classes DMS isn t a good school for you. The basketball team is bad, and so is the lacrosse team. The cross-country team is just for fun. sports are not worth it here. Once again, its only mediocre IF YOU ARE IN PROBE.

I'm an 8th grader here at this school and being here for for almost 3 months now I can honestly say that the students here are mean and they cuss and are very innapropiate my old school was better and really wish I could go back to my old school.

I think some people rate this school just for its reputation. sure we won Academic Bowl and all that stuff, thats good, but it has nothing to do with the rest of the school. like the students that are in Reg Ed...and the teachers who dont actually teach; ex. my math teacher. she just tell us what to do and we fill out blanks in this note-taking guide. but she never actually TEACHES. its usually the case where we have to self-learn or get some help from our friends. and the students behavior is atrocious. they cuss and get into fights and ignore the teachers instructions. they disrupt the classroom and attract attention to themselves. i'd say, all in all, this school isnt the best it could be.
--Submitted by a student

I am a student of Duluth Middle School, an 8th grader this year. From my experience, I feel like the academics are challenging and the teachers do their jobs well and interactively with the students. Many students do well at this school and enjoy it. Our principal and A.P.'s strongly encourage working to the best of our abilities, and support the students in their efforts.
--Submitted by a student

This has got to be the worst school ever! Most of the reviews say this is a great school since it got so many awards, but here's what really happens. When all those officials come around the school acts like and angel. When those officials leave they let kids cuss. Sometimes you walk in the hall and someone cusses and it's obvious who did it and there are teachers around. Those teachers don't do anything. They just look at the person and then look away. They also hate making trouble for themselves. In my class there's a boy who cusses, walks around during class, and just disrupts the class, but the teacher doesn't do anything, infact sometimes he looks at the boy and laughs! When my mom sent the teacher a note all the teacher said was I talked to the administrater and your daughter can switch to another class. What kind of a teacher says that?! If you have any other alternative to this school, take the other school instead! Don't ruin you child's life!

My son started his 8th grade in this school late. We relocated from another state. He was an A+ student, however, that all changed here. The teachers specially one is always picking on him. They need to worry about teaching the student and taking the time for them instead of just complaining.
--Submitted by a parent

DMS lately has me shaking and scratching my head. I have 2 children that go here 7th & 8th. My 7th grader is one who has to work hard to make A's & B's. And even though he has A, B, and a C they wanted a conference to tell him and I that he should be an straight A student. Never will happen never has since he's been in school. My other 8th grader is like a mini genius he is the straight A student but since he can just ace the quizzes and test he only does those. He's gotten D's & F's I requested a conference but it seems they forgot about it. Now, he is signed up for an Honors class at Duluth High. I feel like they focus on the national testing system way too much and not they quality of the actual class.
--Submitted by a parent

I believe that DMS is a great school, but some of the teachers don't care about the students and take out some anger on them, we also don't get to choose some of the lasses we take. For instance, connections, for this time period we get to choose to be in a fine arts class but that's it. I, and other students currently attending DMS, think that this does not give us much freedom.
--Submitted by a student