B Mahlon Brown Junior High School

Brown JHS is a GREAT school! The students and the staff are safe. Teachers actually teach!! There are many after school programs to be involved in. As far as gangs.....There are NONE.....EVERY school has students that make bad choices. When a child makes a bad choice, there are consequences. The administration inforces the policies. That is what you want in a school and administration. When policies are enforced, there are less problems. They have an open door policy. If you want to know first hand what Brown JHS is about, walk the halls. Don't believe the rumors, see for yourself! Check in at the office and tour the building.
--Submitted by a teacher

I am a volunteer at Brown - the most worrying thing is not the "gangs" - none have been seen to be a problem in the past 5 years I have been volunteering there - the problem is parent apathy - blaming the school for their child's misbehavior - the worst "gang" I have seen is the parents who refuse to take responsiblilty for their kids. The children I have been volunteering with have been (for the most part) respectful, intellegent and the most on the spot kids who have a great spark of intellegence & creativity! The Principal and Vice-Principal treat all kids with the utmost respect but have rules and boundries for these kids need and enforce them accordingly. This was the best school both my kids have been in as far as a wake up call to go to high school with teachings of compassion, intelligence and teachers who are willing to help the students who ask for it. For the rest - I say stay home and let the ones that want to learn learn - the rest of you "I Will take fries with that". But, just to be clear, in the years I have been volunteering at Brown, I have not seen any gangs - just a dedicated staff of teachers and administrators trying to do the best for each child
--Submitted by a parent

I have a response for the father writing about Brown Junior High. Please homeschool your daughter. The rest of us parents and grandparents having children at Brown are doing just fine. My grandaughter has informed me about the incident he is writing about. There are no gangs at Brown. The fact is that the gangs Brown was forced to have bused in are long gone. I would say that most parents with troubled children should take a look in the mirror and don't blame the school. One could have said Brown was a troubled school three years ago. I was looking for an alternative school for my grandaughter to go to two years ago.The NEW principal and his Staff are doing a great job. My grandaughter went to two good Schools, one is Sue H. Morrow and now Brown. Please get your facts straight before you make such vicious remarks.
--Submitted by a parent

I am shocked at the reviews saying that Brown is a bad school and has gang problems.! Where are your children hanging out and with whom? I have several children attending Brown, none of whom have had any problem whatsoever with gangs! As a matter of fact, you can call the Henderson police department and find out if Brown Middle school has any gangs in the school. It has none! Additionally, if you take a walk through the campus, which the administration encourages, the hallways are quite pleasant. Of course, there's the regular hustle and bustle, but no bullying and fighting in the hallways takes place. And if it does, it is dealt with promptly by the administration with suspension or expulsion for the culprits. If you compare us to a nearby Middle school, which is the same size, it has twice as many fights. Additionally, Brown is not overcrowded and there are a wide variety of curricular and extra-curricular programs offered by the school. I admit, I was one of those parents nervous about sending my children to Brown, but I have been pleasantly surprised! I have encountered an administration who really cares about the school and wants the best for all the students.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had 3 daughters that have attended Brown Middle School. Each one of them has had problems with the gang influence at that school. My wife and I just took our youngest out of that school, due to the second severe beating she took at the hands of the gang members that attend this school. With these beatings my daughter also bore the ire if the school staff, as though she intentionally went and got herself beat up to make them look bad. Last year after a group of bullies beat her down, my duaghter got suspended becuase she tried to defend herself. SCHOOL VOUCHERS ARE A MUST, let these teacher unions have the schools, we will be home schooling our kids. We cant afford the hospital bills we have incurred at Brown.
--Submitted by a parent

I am a student at Brown and it disappointed me that a Brown Bear would say something that negative towards a wonderful school. I believe that Brown has it's ups and downs, but it definetly is a good school. Brown is a wonderful school as long as you have the right friends. If you hang around the kids who get into trouble, then obviously you will be getting into trouble yourself. Most of the students that wrote a review on this website probably aren't self-motivated. Not to sound conceited, but I've held straight A's ever since 1st grade. I do not get into trouble. Because of course, I stay into the better crowd. The uniforms are understandable because of the low-income population that lives directly around the school. I actually believe the uniforms are a great advantage. The school is not over crowded. Compared to other schools like Mannion and Burkholder, Brown doesn't have alot of students. And for the fights, they have decreased with the new principal. Our principal is great. I guess my point is that any child will be perfectly fine at Brown if they stay with the right crowd and watch their grades. Just try it. It is a good school. See for yourself.

I went to Brown from 6th grade up until the middle of 8th grade. HATED IT. i have never been somewhere so rough and un safe. Its almost as if when i went there that the hall people just wanted to see the fights not stop them. it was almost a game everyday for me to stay low and not talk becasue of the huge race problem there white is the minority. its scary . The movie Freedome writers is pretty close to this school. Please for you kid.. dont send them here from a former student at BJHS.

i have attended this school for 4 years and hated it since the begging. i cried because of bullies but learned that i need to be tough to be at this school. my sister attended the school for three years and we both had the same exact experiences. the teachers used to be fun loving people but ever since the new principal the school has turned into "test score zombies". teachers hate the principal, all he does is yell at them and make them talk to us about test scores and discipline. still attending this school i am not looking forward to going to basic high school.

Under the guidance and wisdom of the new principal, this school has had a 100% turn around for the better. What a difference a year makes! There are no longer long lines of kids 'waiting to be expelled' at the dean's office, hallway chaos is gone, test scores are up, even the baseketball teams made it to the semi-finals. Did I mention school spirit? Well, that, which was totally missing in the past, is not only present now, but flourishing. Student enrollment is even up, as parents see the new results and are moving their kids here. Bless this new administration for paying attention and caring!
--Submitted by a parent

Their are both good and bad sides to the school. And to be honest, I can count more bad sides than good sides. Like a student said: You can express yourself through many ways. I do like the fact that we have to wear uniforms. It makes me feel more secure. Bad sides: TOO MANY TO COUNT. Lets see... my friend got stabbed in the back with a fork... mean principal... ok teachers... parents aren't involved as much... and to be honest, I don't think the school gives a !@3$ about safety and discipline.
--Submitted by a student