Stephen Vail Middle School

A public school experience is what you make it. I have a student at Vail and can tell you things are not perfect, but I have to wonder what some parents expect? To have a good student and/or a good citizen, it must start at home. Have you ever asked yourself what kind of parent you are? My child knows if he gets into trouble at school he will get in trouble at home. The people in this city sent their children to school with no training or instruction and want to protect them when they break the rules. Welcome to society. Your same little Johnny or Suzy will spend time in jail, then who will you blame? It is time for lazy parents to get off their butts, claim their insubordinate children as a product of their home environment and take the responsibility to straighten them out!
--Submitted by a parent

Excellent staff, enforcing the 'bully' rules,
--Submitted by a parent

My children go to this fantastic middle school called Stephen Vail Middle School. It's absolutley magnificent. They learn about the 'real world' there, and not other non-sense. It's a good life lesson for them. Go bulldog's!
--Submitted by a parent

The school does offer a variety of academic programs. The school does offer extracurricular activities as well the after school programs are limited from what I understand due to the neighborhood that the school is located in. And there is a very bad lack of parent involvement. But the staff and principles are AWESOME!
--Submitted by a parent

Very fun extracurricular activities for my child.
--Submitted by a parent

We found Vail to be a wonderful school! The teachers my daughter had were professional, cared about her specific needs, and went the extra mile to make that very large school feel like a small close community. I do think that there is work to be done to increase parental involvement. Many parents have voiced a concern about not feeling welcome to participate in the school. I encourage you to get involved and not wait for the welcome mat to be rolled out for you. It won't be. But if you are ernest in wanting to help improve the quality of education for your child and all the children, you will jump in and do your part! Vail has a lot to offer!
--Submitted by a parent

I do believe that many of the teachers at Vail have a preconceived idea about their minority students.Many of these troubled youth have been pushed through the system up to this point and they figure that it is too late to help them.Vail is run too much like boot camp than a positive learning environment.
--Submitted by a parent

I feel that for an inner-city school, Vail does an excellent job with their students. They have several programs and teachers that apply to children of all levels of intelligence. The discipline policies could use work, but with the new laws from the state, all schools struggle with this. The special education teacher my child had was excellent. She worked with him and be was able to have an excellent year and I feel confident him going to the high school next year and that was my biggest fear.
--Submitted by a parent

I agree with the previous review. I recently learned that personnel (principal in particular) is quick to judge and is not interested in trying to help a trouble student but is very eager to get them out of the school. A troubled child needs a counselor (some one to confide in) not a drill sargeant who intentionally tries to provoke the student behind closed doors. Belittling a student is not the solution. I hope this school will take the initiative to help their students not deter them!
--Submitted by a parent

This school needs alot of work to do. Not setup for kids with learning and behavior problems, to quick to judge the problem on hand. Just push them through they'll be ok addatude. Need to spend time with kids to see what makes them learn better & get their input on the school.
--Submitted by a parent