St. Louis Park Middle School

Our 6th grader is NOT doing well at the junior high. The special ed department is a holy MESS and extremely ineffective. They have been out of compliance multiple times and owe my kid several hours for services they didn't provide (but were supposed to) so far this year. Figuring out my kid's special ed schedule has been all but impossible, since typically no one responds when I ask for info or guidance with this, and the special ed team didn't actually HAVE a schedule for him until the end of 1st quarter. We have even had to go to school and help our kid figure out where he's supposed to go since no one seemed to know. Additionally, very few of the classroom teachers respond when I contact them with questions about my kid's homework or test scores. Our experience with K-5 in the district was AMAZING and I've always spoke very highly of SLP schools. We are shocked that we are having this experience in SLP, but we feel that it will be difficult for us to provide our kid a good education if he stays at this school, under these circumstances. We have had to constantly advocate for BASIC needs, and even common courtesies from the staff. This is such a shame.
--Submitted by a parent

best school ever so many nice kids and great teahers better than edina school or any school theres a place for everyone to fit in

Every teacher in this school helps you do your best. They help you if your stuck on a problem. The teachers are very nice. My grades have improved a LOT and I thank all the teachers for that. The deans are fantastic my dean helps me with all of my problems I can talk to him whenever I want, he helps me, and fixes my problem withen that week. all of the classes are made to be fun with a lot of actvites and game. I love this school. I would love for more people to understand that it is not a bad school just because its near minneapolis and other crime neighbords i have never felt scared in this school. I love SLP JH and its the best school I've ever been to.

St Louis Park Junior high has a dedicated, caring staff! They are on a two year looping system so they follow our kids into their second year and can really get to know the kids and find ways to motivate and challenge them! They really know how to reach kids at this very challenging time in their lives.
--Submitted by a parent

The JH staff and faculty work extremely hard to provide a consistent, coherent education for all students. More effort needs to be expended to deal with disruptive students, but overall, the school is wonderful. The teaming/looping model is a cornerstone. Academics are rigorous for the most part.
--Submitted by a parent

The reviews shown here are ridiculous. Some posted by students, for crying out loud. Kids at the Jr. High level think everything is high drama. This is a qualiy Jr. High with a teaming/looping model that has been copied around the nation because of its success in helping to close the achievement gap, allow for tracking of students from year to year with the same teachers, aleviate peer problems, etc. The teachers are outstanding, as is the principal. Every Jr. High School has loud, socially awkward, attention-seeking teens...that's the deal...we've all been there. The student body is not rough, but due to open enrollment, this is not the 'homogenized,' predominantly caucasion population you see in some suburbs. If you want to learn about real life, you need to live in the real world. I love this school. High marks all the way around!
--Submitted by a parent

St Louis Park has witnessed a marked decline in the last 5 years. The junior high is symptomatic of the problem. The school has a rough student body - at no fault of the teachers or adminstration. A substantial percentage of families are open enrolling in Edina and Tonka, and in private schools. It is a real shame because the foundation for excellence is here, but it is being rapidly eroded. I wish I could be more optimistic.
--Submitted by a parent

Look I'll give you my clean review of what happened in 7th and 8th grade. fighting and cheating was common among every student. The main reason it was so bad was because we were able to break the will of the teachers, it was quiet easy and soon swearing, fighting, and cheating was viewed as well fine. The learning environment quickly fell to pieces and mos people including my self found no problem with it. there were some teachers ,like Mr. D, that students respected and would actually try in their classes. The school became completely infective at teaching and now in high school I've have to fight for my grades. The school officials and parents need to recognize and deal with the problem.
--Submitted by Student of2004to2006, a former student

I feel that over all the Jr. High and it's staff is trying hard, but very disappointed with the reports from my child about the number of disruptive students in the advance classes. If a child is placed in an advance class then they should also have the expectation of controlling themselves.....for that matter, in ALL classes.
--Submitted by a parent

The anti-bullying system is disorganized and ineffective, and the schools money is used for the wrong things (Namely, a field house and new carpeting rather than new textbooks, support for the art programs and new computers). And the deans don't listen or get involved with very little exceptions.
--Submitted by a student