Meadowlark Middle School

Terrible school, Very poor leadership. My little Tommy and Timothy suffered so much here. Very cliquey, poor staffing as well. My sweet little Timothy was bullied over his so called larger frame. Absalutly unacceptable! This school is terrible.
—Submitted by a parent

I believe Mr. Mac is biased toward the popular people. The teachers pick and choose their favorites. Plus everyone at this school is FAKE. Never send your child to this school. Unless your a cheerleader or a jock you will regret it.

Good school....School of Excellence for a good reason. Great parent involvement and teachers seem to care.
—Submitted by a parent

I also wrote last year on my sons experience and this website did not post it. So Don't Put Your Children In This School!!! Yes there are preferences, racials comments from children, bullying, and if you fight back (two wrongs don't make it right" n quote) you get detention. Yes there is a lot of homework to be done. Which we didn't mind. & we also were mailed a letter from the NC State mind regarding Meadowlark Scoring LOW in math. Yes you are ignored if you complain. SOOOOOO GOOD LUCK!!!
—Submitted by a parent

This school is terrible. They dont want to hear it when there is a problem. Some children there have major behavior problems and they dont protect the innocent kids from not getting hurt. When you try to address anything with them no one wants to deal with you. As far as the teachers go there is only one there that behaves like an angry child and wonders why everyone wants to drop his class. I would not recommend this school to anyone. It just has way to many problems and they will not help you keep your child's head above water.
—Submitted by a parent

I am currently serving overseas and in almost every call home I hear hopelessness in both my wife and child. Websites are seldom updated, teachers NEVER communicate with parents. Neither teachers nor staff members display any sense, common or otherwise. Case in point, my son was out for an entire week with diarrhea and went back to school the following week still suffering from bouts of the illness; his teacher would not let him go to the bathroom because school policy dictates that a doctor's note is required for a student to leave class. Idiocy! My 12 year-old had to call his mother, who had to leave work, to come to school so that she could call the doctor and have him fax a letter to the school. Students that miss any days for any reason are required to complete all school work before returning to school (hence, the website). My son simply could not complete the massive amount of work that the school required of him. Since the school was trying to make up for the spate of snow days it had recently been forced to absorb there was an ungodly amount of work to do. (Cont.)
—Submitted by a parent

I go to this school right now and it is awsome
—Submitted by a student

The teachers are borderline scary. One has repeatedly crossed lines of racial issues...saying black power and such in class to students. My child has been a target for certain teachers. Bullying and fighting is just out of hand and nothing is done. Teachers act like kids. Homework and classwork is rushed through and not clearly explained. Problems are almost daily. I have another child starting middle next year and we have decided neither will ever return to this school. Complaints go unnoticed or they act like you are bothering them. Teacher make comments about the kids in front of them and it hurts feelings of child. I would just say the WSFC system needs to step in. If I am not mistaken they have had 3 principals in less than 6 years.
—Submitted by a parent

This school has done a poor job of helping it's students through their tween years. Quite often, the teachers and administration do nothing to aid their students when they are the victim of verbal bullying. That sets the stage for an awkward environment.
—Submitted by a student

Great environment & place to learn
—Submitted by a parent

I have to disagree with a few of the comments below. It has nothing to do with race, finances or 'clicks'...it is just a bad school. We are upper middle class family, white and our child is extremely popular and we have had to worse years at this school. Teachers act like the students, disrespectful and rude. Homework is never clear nor is the website every updated. The administration is so bad it isn't funny. My child has been picked on and they do absolutely nothing. They question the students when things happen and then they tell the other students who told on them which starts more fights. I could go on for hours about the quality of this school bottom line it needs revamping.
—Submitted by a parent

Meadowlark Middle School is quite simple. Bad parent/teacher interaction. If you're not rich and 'pretty' you will probably have trouble fitting in. Teachers give multiple second chances and usually don't stand by their word. I think the coursework is average, but could be much better. Some students don't care about academics. In one of the classes there was one student on the honor roll. Some students are quite rude, but I suppose that is expected of pre-teens sometimes. I would say my experience was okay, but could have been much better.
—Submitted by a student

i am a student at this school and i love it, it is the best i have ever been too
—Submitted by a student

I hate to say that my experiences at Meadowlark Middle school were not all that great. Considering I was only there for a couple of months, the teachers paid no interest in catching me up with the other students or even offering me extra help after school. The other students are also not very friendly. Like all the other reviews, if you do not fit the mold then you won't fit in. It is either you are rich and white, or don't even bother going.
—Submitted by a student

Meadowlark is a great school. There students are good and there teachers are excallent
—Submitted by a parent

I Think Meadowlark is a wonderful school. I have worked closely with all of my child's teachers and have seen things many other parents have not. Meadowlark has many issues, including overcrowding (sometimes 40 students per class!), and a slue of parents that don't hold their child accountable. This only adds to the daily stress of the teachers and staff. I believe we are pointing fingers in the wrong direction. The parents in our community need to hold their child accountable and volunteer within their child's team (field trip, classroom, office.) and stop putting so much emphasis on pop warner, and other social climbing activities. Also, we need to hold the school board and Dr. Martin more accountable. Why do we have so many kids per classroom? Why do they put so much emphasis on state testing? I challenge every parent to educate yourself by volunteering and attending school board meetings.
—Submitted by a parent

It is hard to thoroughly describe the frustration I have experienced having a child at this school. Not only is the education unacceptable, the environment is very unfriendly towards parents if there is any questioning of the teachers or inquiry about disciplinary actions. My child was often harassed by other students. My child was belittled by teachers - I personally heard this. Web pages that give class assignments, work information, etc. were often not updated by teachers - yet communication with teachers was practically impossible. Grade reports were often incorrect. There is an overall unwillingness on the part of the administration to hold teachers accountable for low quality work. Anything that might require 'extra' work is avoided. There have been a few good individual teachers - but overall not enough to mitigate the poor environment or to prepare students well for high school.
—Submitted by a parent

After attending WSFC middle school more than 20 yrs ago I returned to the WS area with my family and 2 kids ( 8th grader) & (5th grader) in Aug 2007. We selected Meadowlark Middle for my daughter based on the rating of the school. My daughter left the Union County System outside Charlotte NC , which had similar rating. We found out that the rating dont make the school. My daughter was an A/B honor roll student, Duke TIP student and Beta club memeber as she left the Union County School. Once at Meadowlark we found that she was not Recognized for her accomplishments nor woould the school's administration consider her for the equal, Nat. Jr Honor Society. They gave excuses Lastly, Diversity is not in the School or the system. As a result we elected to return to Union County for her High School Yr. We don't recommend Meadowlark
—Submitted by a parent

The education that is being give to students at Meadowlark is unacceptable. My daughter has gone there 3 years and she is definitely not ready for high school. They talk 'responsibility' but do not hold the students responsible. They teach the student that they will always get a second chance and are afraid to fail anyone. The teachers give lip service to responding, the web site to help me keep up with homework is typically not kept up to date by any teacher during the last 3 years, and the email of grades from the computer system that is sent out same day as the paperwork comes home is often incomplete or missing reports (the report due today never came through). The whole school talks a good game but the students are not being prepared for being successful in school or life. The End of Grade testing seems their only focus.
—Submitted by a parent

There is something very wrong at this school. My daughter has been going to this school for one year and has gotten in trouble for the craziest things. It s like there is a group of staff that sticks together in what I want to say a racial scam. I would hate to think that this is still going on. When I go to the Vice Principal to try to express my concerns, She tells me she does not have time for this and makes it clear that I am interrupting her day. To get rid of me she gave me a piece of paper and told me to write it down, expressed that she is behind and it will take a while to get to it. In the mean time my child is fighting to get through each day. With these other negative comments, when they say not fit their mold or fit their click do they mean if you are white you will be just fine? Or is it really that you have to fit a certain mold no matter what race you are? I would like to make it very clear, something is very wrong at this school.
—Submitted by a parent