Cal Young Middle School

We've had a pretty good experience at Cal Young with the exception of one social studies teacher. (She kept insisting our son was not doing work, yet she would lose the work he would turn in. We also had to correct grades that she had put into her grading system - our son had the returned graded tests and papers as proof of his real grade when the grade entered into the system was points lower. We felt like she had it out for him or something, it was odd. We were VERY happy when that year was over!!) Anyway - aside from that experience with that one particular teacher, we have nothing negative to say about Cal Young with regards to the staff, teachers, principal, or vice principal. There are some really outstanding teachers there and Mr. Beard the VP is really caring and seemed to always be available for us when we had concerns or questions. Mr. Schiff is awesome and the principal Mrs. Vandercar is also really great. My word of advice to future Cal Young parents: just make sure your kids have a good group of friends. This made ALL the difference in our experience. Middle school is a strange time. Keep your family close and get to know your kids friends and you should be fine.
--Submitted by a parent

I have never been so disappointed in a public school as Cal Young. We choose Cal Young because of the high test scores and positive reviews but have experienced the very opposite (more issues than can be posted). On day one my daughters where put in the wrong class with my oldest 8th grade daughter being put in 7th grade classes. They also signed up both girls for the wrong extracurricular activities. Every other week my daughters have come home with stories of prejudice comments coming from kids at the school. I presented this information to the Vice Principal, but nothing has changed. I realize parents are ultimately responsible for their children's prejudices, however, I was shocked that this was so prevalent in Eugene and that the school doesn t do more to reduce it. Obviously the Zero Tolerance policy is more of a marketing ploy than something they take seriously. There are many more stories coming home weekly of the inadequacy of the staff at this school. At this point if my daughters hadn t made friends I would move just to get them a better education. I m told Sheldon High School is a good place for them and will stick it out because of that.
--Submitted by a parent

Cal Young has a great learning environment. I really enjoy going here, and it is very clean. Most teachers are great, with some exeptions. I would say it is one of the best middle schools in Eugene.

Cal Young is a good school and a good learning environment. Although some teachers are better than others, most of the time when a student says a teacher is bad, it is purely because they think the teacher is too strict or they dislike the subject that they teach. But there are exceptions. Most of the time, things are orderly, but I myself have been in a class with over 40 kids and where 2 grades got mixed. We are learning basic skills that we should be learning in our grades but some of the lessons are drawn out too long, and are unrevelant to skills we will actually use in the future.
--Submitted by a student

Cal young is a great LOOKING school. Although, some teachers are horrible. Good teachers include: Mr.Baker Ms.Ketche, Mr.Loy. They really need to fire some teachers though.
--Submitted by a student

Cal Young is a great school! Teachers go out of their way to help students succeed. They offer many options for students and parents and try to work with everyone to make it a positive experience. Thanks for going the extra mile!!
--Submitted by a parent

I am so impressed with Cal Young. The staff does a great job of encouraging students to excel and succeed. They are educated in a caring climate and I appreciate all that they do. By the way, there has never been a class of 54 students at Cal Young. I checked.
--Submitted by a parent

I am really impressed with Scott Baker and his willingness to step outside the teacher norm and give a helping hand to my grandson! Thank you Scott!!!

This school has all the supplies and everything .It is a good school . The only problem is alot of students come because it has a new building. But they could be a little more strict
--Submitted by a student

We watched the quality of this school completely deteriorate as teachers retired. My son had classes with up to 54 students. Although he tested as TAG, he underperformed in all classes, & the assistant principal told me that most boys in the school were failing. We finally pulled him & enrolled him in a private school, where he is excelling. The teacher burnout and mediocrity at Cal Young were appalling. The teacher attitude was that, as long as a boy was quiet, he could sit and draw all day, and do nothing in class, and that was fine with the teacher. They really couldn't care less if the kids learned or not. The school was a depressing, demoralizing place, especially when we had seen it so much better, with such better teachers, only a few short years before. Of course, we had two girls go through earlier, so who knows.......
--Submitted by a parent