Scarsdale Middle School

Unfortunately, this is the weak link in the mighty Scarsdale school system. It is where useless or fired tenured individuals get placed after they aren t wanted elsewhere. The house system is antiquated and doesn t work, and the house counselors are a clueless bunch of paper pushers who are way overworked for what they are capable of not much. The Principal was a cast off from the high school and is well past any prime that he may have had during the Nixon administration. When you check out alternative schools and other locations you see what POSITIVE ENERGY a freethinking non-bureaucrat can provide a school. No one in Scarsdale wants to say too many bad things about the schools, as our inflated home prices and ludicrously high taxes are directly tied to the reputation of the schools, which is unbelievably still good. The elementary schools are fine and the high school is the gem of the system, but surviving the Middle School is not worth subjecting your children to!
--Submitted by a parent

We moved to Scarsdale for "the schools." Watch out when your kids get to middle school. They take children straight from the nurturing, grade-free environment of fifth grade and immediately begin loading them with projects, hours of homework, and incessant tests. They do not help them with organizational skills, or help them develop study habits. My child has no life. She does homework from the time she gets home until she sleeps (exhausted). .The school district makes no effort to transition children to this newer, more mature environment, and gives no leeway for kids to make mistakes, or allow them to develop at their own pace. Extremely punitive, sink or swim environment. Very little communication between parents and teachers. They are treated like mini college students. If I wasn't locked into the real estate market, I would move. If you have not yet purchased a home in Scarsdale, please look very carefully into the school culture before you do. Some people in this town thrive on this type of thing, but if you are not one of them, you and your children will be very unhappy.
--Submitted by a parent

This is a great school, and a good district. Thought the level of empathy is VERY low at the school. As a parent i tell my children to be kind to others, but i know that this school teaches my kids about what real life is like!
--Submitted by a parent

This school suffers from a problem that all of the scarsdale schools have. 'Freedom of Instruction' means that teachers can teach anything they want, within a minimal curriculum. It means that your child's experience in the middle school will be dependent on his/her house assgnmt, and the match between your child's academic type and the teachers'. Some teachers do more writing instruction. Some do none. Some read a lot of books, some read minimal books. Some teachers don't give any tests. A teacher from another house said that my kid (struggling in 'regular math') was learning more advanced math then he was teaching his kids in advanced math. Theer's no standards or checks/bals. If your kid needs sp ed support, beware, and be vigilant. You must be involved every day. Talk to everyone. Do not assume that all will be ok. It won't be.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is very challenging and they make you work your hardest, but it's as ivy league as it gets
--Submitted by a parent

Excellent academis, plenty of extracurricullars and lots of parental involvement.
--Submitted by a former student

Wow! I absolutely love the Middle School. The entire new wing is gorgeous... the teachers are nice and the work is hard but we greatly surpass state expectations. It's a gorgeous school in a great suburb with amazing people. There are plenty of extracurriculars: guitar club, care club, peer leadership, science team, debate club, math team....the list goes on. The athletic facilities and equipment are amazing. We have a complete workout room with hi-tech professional equiptment that you would find in a state of the art health club. We have a complete indoor and outdoor challenge course, low ropes, high ropes and 30 ft climbing wall. The gym program provides everything from rollerblading to tennis to wrestling and javelin throwing. There are many great fundraisers and a terrific Student Government. We have several hi-tech computer labs with at least 20 17' I-Mac computers. This school is unbelievable!
--Submitted by a student