Grassland Middle School

My son just finished 8th grade after three great years at Grassland Middle School. With only one exception, the teachers were wonderful. My only complaint is the lack of recess where kids can be kids, blow off steam and expend some pent up energy.
—Submitted by a parent

My son views GMS as a prison because: teachers won't let them use the restrooms except during class switches. However if they are late to class they will get "strikes" which can add up to a detention. So nobody uses the restrooms all day. They can't sit where they want during lunch and have no recess. Thus, they have no way to socially mingle with their friends. They get no physical education if they participate in band, and if they are not in band, they only get 1/4 of the school year with physical ed if lucky. They actually count the time it takes to switch classes and claim that this meets their state physical education requirement. 12-13 year old boys could use some exercise to break up the day but they don't get it. Some teachers are nice, but many are callous and try to break these kids spirits. As a parent, I would add: There is very little critical thinking and hardly any writing that is truly evaluated. It is all rote learning for the tcap and uninspiring. My husband and I each have advanced degrees and place a priority on education, but this brute force method is not the way to instill a love of learning, quite the contrary.
—Submitted by a parent

I LOVE grassland so much. its an amazing school. i was on the orange team last year and each teacher was my favorite one! the staff and so nice and works really hard! i would definitley recommend grassland to any person!

I am currently in Eighth grade. Sixth Grade was amzing. We had alot of fun field trips. 7th grade was descent. I had ine teacher that totally ruined my 7th grade life. Other than that 7th grade was okay. 8th grade right now is okay. GMS has been messing around alot with programs. We have a bully program which is okay but its the same lesson over and over again. They fid 'creative' way to make us think we learning new stuff. We also have the formative and summative thing. It's really confusing. And being proficient and non proficient. And If u do a retake on a tests you cant make an A. The bus routes are bad. The buses are crowded with students. We need more buses. Trer are alot of after school activities. We have many sports available for sport lovers. To be continued
—Submitted by a student

well this school is filled with mostky great people and pretty good teachers. i was on the green team last year as a student. although the teachers were tough on us they prepared us for a lot and i thank them for that. i did have a few problems with one teacher who i didnt like as much, but other then that my year was great. our school is pretty good except for our lazy principle, and favorite playing related arts teachers and normal teachers for that matter.
—Submitted by a student

6th grade was great! All the teachers were so friendly and really seemed to understand that we were all nervous about starting middle school and they were really supportive of all of us. 7th grade, however, was not as good. The teachers seemed as though they were being forced to teach us and didn't enjoy working with children. The curriculum was not very well taught and the subjects we were studying seemed to be far more advanced than 7th grade. The older you get in this school, the worse the teachers get. I don't appreciate the food. The principal doesn't like change and tends to hide from controversy. My son just finished 6th grade (great teachers, grey team). My son was in the school's 'gifted' program that the principal does not support and doesn't let the gifted teacher run the program properly. The bus transportation to/from school is below average. Where
—Submitted by a parent

My son and my daughter attend GMS and it's a great school. The extracurricular activities offered are amazing. The teachers really care about their students and the communication with parents is far better than our elementary school experience. They have a tremendous amount of information available to the students and parents online. Every textbook, assignment, grade, etc. are available online. They also really welcome parent involvement at GMS, which surprised me. I'd always heard that parents were never involved once children reached middle school age. With a public school like this, who needs private?
—Submitted by a parent

I went to Grassland for two years- 6th and 8th grade. 6th grade was great! All the teachers were so friendly and really seemed to understand that we were all nervous about starting middle school and they were really supportive of all of us. 7th grade, however, was not as good. The teachers seemed as though they were being forced to teach us and didn't enjoy working with children. The curriculum was not very well taught and the subjects we were studying seemed to be far more advanced than 7th grade. The older you get in this school, the worse the teachers get. Overall, I though this school was just okay. Nothing more, nothing less.
—Submitted by a student

This is the best school ever!! Im so happy at GMS and I love everything about it!! I feel so welcomed there and I love going to school at GMS everyday!!!!!!!
—Submitted by a student

My daughter attended Grassland Middle School, and just finished 7th grade. I don't appreciate the food, my daughter has been eating pizza every day. She dosen't need the grease!! I would also have appreciated a kinder teacher staff.

The principal doesn't like change and tends to hide from controversy. My son just finished 6th grade (great teachers, grey team). My son was in the school's 'gifted' program that the principal does not support and doesn't let the gifted teacher run the program properly. The bus transportation to/from school is below average. Where we live it's only 7 minutes to the school but riding the bus takes 2 and 1/2 hours roundtrip daily. The principal was no help trying to correct this situation. Traffic to pick-up or drop-off is horrible.
—Submitted by a parent

We are very pleased with Grassland Middle School. Our son just finished the 6th grade and the school did an excellent job transitioning him into into middle school from 5th grade. It was both encouraging and challenging for him. The band program is exceptional as are other extra-curricular programs. The school was actually one of 5 awarded the U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools award in 2004.
—Submitted by a parent