Octorara Middle School

Octorara seems to have two tracks - one where academics are top, and the other where, despite caring teachers, standards are lax. My daughter falls into the second group. She often has misspelled words (simple words) in assignments which she feels are acceptable, and since she passes each quarter with B's and C's, that must be true. I have noticed that since intermediate school, what is expected of her in the classroom and in quality of work has dropped. She NEVER has homework for home- she does it all in IHT and very rarely needs to study for a test - and this isn't because she is brilliant, its because very little is expected of her - and yet she passes....I don't feel this is to her advantage. There are also tales of fights at the middle school - and this is backed up by similar stories from a police man we know, who gets called there. She will be moved to a different school next year....
--Submitted by a parent

My son goes to the MS, and he really enjoys it. The Principal is very good. She really tries to stay on top of issues, and deals with things promptly. I have to disagree, he DOES have a lot of homework, but maybe that's because he is in AT classes? Overall very satisfied with the year. :)
--Submitted by a parent

We think this school is great! The team of teachers that our child has are wonderful, caring, and make learning fun! Our daughter is learning well and she is retaining information. She isn't getting a lot of homework and that allows more time for her to study for tests. She enjoys going to this school and that is a big change from previous years when she hated school. The teachers genuinely care about the kids and want them to succeed! As far as bullying, when our son went here they took care of problems right away and he did well. The Bully Prevention program was key to his success. We have had no issues with our daughter so far. The teachers are great with keeping parents informed! Our daughter is doing very well and are looking forward to our other child going there next year, and we can't wait!
--Submitted by a parent

This is a fantastic school. My kids make friends and don't get bullied. Their are a lot of sports team that you can enroll your child in and the teachers are so caring and nice!!!
--Submitted by a parent

They don't deal or resolve problems with bullying. I don't have much faith that my child is in a good environment. The bullies seem to rule the school and the administration doesn't have the guts to stop it and punish the bullies.
--Submitted by a parent