Franklin Middle School

The staff is wonderful at Franklin and they all show true concern about the students.
—Submitted by a teacher

At Franklin, we strive to provide each student with exactly the right type of instruction- from intervention classes to honors classes. We honor the whole child and offer a wide variety of academic classes and extracurricular experiences.
—Submitted by a teacher

Franklin's staff and students are extraordinary in every way!

Definitely not the best. Teachers teach just by standing up and talking to us, then handing out worksheets. Having a separate class for writing is completely pointless because we just do the same things over and over again all three years, but at least that's not the school's fault. Classes are bad and always being disrupted - it's loud and hard to learn anything. A lot of teachers say they will punish someone and then never do, so the students never behave. Health is the worst class ever, but so is PE. I'm in 8th grade at the moment, going to high school next year, and though I'm in honors reading and math I feel wholly unprepared for high school (especially math). Teachers may not be the best, but they are dedicated and will stay after school with you to help if you need it. Still, bottom line? Not great.
—Submitted by a student

franklin is kind of in a bad place but the teachers are great I have 6th south and I love the teachers they care about school and help you they also care about your safety I love franklin
—Submitted by a student

My daughter is in this school at her 6th grade. She transferred to Urbana Middle School because of the moving of my family. From my view, Franklin is a good public school. It has some good teachers, for example, my daughter's math teacher, Mrs. Jones and my daughter's science teacher, Mr. Mast are simply great teachers. There are many good and smart students there. If you want to know if there are any problems with Franklin, I would say that all these problems belong to today's every American public schools. As one of these public schools, no questions that Franklin is doing all its best to improve and meet the best standards of public schools of America.
—Submitted by a parent

Franklin is definitely better than Jefferson and Edison. We're the only public school to go to state for science olympiad and mathcounts this year. Our principal is GREAT. She really works on improving our school. Most people think Franklin is a 'bad' school. There are many good students. Almost everyone is friendly at Franklin too :) Most people won't believe that Franklin is awesome until they go there. I didn't like franklin when I first came here either. It took me a while to get adjusted to this school. But after you do it's great! You should give franklin a try regardless of the greatschools rating.
—Submitted by a student

At first when I came to this school in 7th grade I thought it was absolutely horrible. But after you get used to it it's great! There are no bullies (well definitely not as much as almost all other schools) I would much rather go to Uni, but Franklin is still better than most schools in the US. Parents are probably worried because alot of the students aren't well very good and they think it could influence you. But the good students are just great and we don't bother to complain about the others.
—Submitted by a student

If you are thinking about going to Franklin Middle School, do it! The teachers are nice, there are lots of afterschool activities then Jefferson and Edison, and education is pretty good. Many people think that Franklin is a school full of African Americans and you might get a bad influence, but Franklin M.S. is just like other middle schools in Champaign and probably better. Franklin Middle School is a really incredible school. P.S, there are no bullies or anything, and Go Franklin Knights!! :)
—Submitted by a student

This school is pretty much -amazing-! I'm going into seventh grade there and loved every minute of sixth, even with the amount of teasing/bullying/whatever I get for being 'different.' I found my true friends and I will stick by them. If you can handle peer pressure, it's all good.
—Submitted by a student

i am a student there and i love it. it is fun and cool!!
—Submitted by a student

The year I attended Franklin the principal and faculty were striving to improve student behavior and rewarding good behavior and improvements with small treats (such as candy, pencils, etc.). However their behavior improvement plans, which they called PBIS for Positive Behavior Intervention System, never seemed to work as throughout the year I saw no improvement in student behavior. Several students complained that their teachers were incompetent and their classes were extremely boring. Profanity, when spoken aloud in a classroom, is criticized and usually a student gets a detention for it; however, profanity in hallways is never noticed by teachers. I am not attending Franklin next year and am glad that I do not have to endure another year there.
—Submitted by a former student

My son attended Franklin Middle School last year and even though before attending we had heard a few stories about the school we had no problems when attending the school. We are very involved parents and I believe that makes all the difference in the world. My husband was at the school checking on things periodically. The teachers were knowledgable about their job and kept on the athletes and other students to stay eligible. I believe this year they are getting a new priciple. I believe that if the Unit 4 district schools would spend more time and give more attention to extracaricular activities in the school it would make the students be more involved in their schools and in turn have more respect for it and the people within the schools. We have to get our children more involved in the school so they will have more interest in it.
—Submitted by a parent

My son attended Franklin Magnet Middle school for 6th grade. We were initially impressed with the curriculum of the school during the open house. Less than 2 months after school started, my son was assaulted by another student during gym. The school never informed me of this incident. My son endured being the victim in fights, having crude jokes played on him as well as watched others go through the same thing. The principal indicated that what we described did not happen at her school or that assaults on students occurred until I reminded her that I had an incident report indicating it did. The principal later admitted she knew there was a small group of students whom the teachers complained about daily. Needless to say, my son did not attend Franklin for 7th grade. As a divorced parent, I made the decision to have my son live with his dad in another city so that he would be safe and secure a better education. On June 15, 2003, the News Gazette in Champaign, IL, featured this school regarding the violence against students and teachers. I was fortunate my son did not have to endure another year at Franklin Magnet Middle School.
—Submitted by a parent