Fulmore Middle School

My child spent his 7th grade year in the Fulmore Magnet program and learned nothing. His teachers were rude and he was bullied by other students. Not only that, the teachers did nothing to help him! He also mentioned that there was a lot of racists among his peers, and I don't think that a middle school student should be discriminating against other races without the teachers doing something about it, and obviously they haven't. The Magnet program was a fantastic idea, but it separates the magnet students from the other students and therefore automatically creates a rift between them. I give this school, if you can call it that, one star and I would never recommend sending your child there unless it's as a punishment.
—Submitted by a parent

My son spent the entire year in the so called Magnet Program, the only thing that means is these students are subjected to Bullying and Harassment by Students, Teachers and Administration alike. As a parent that is an Advocate for my sons protections under Section 504 the school refused to protect and teach my child in a safe environment. Instead my entire family was subjected to Retaliation and Harassment by the Director of the program. My sons transfer was revoked due to his disability and his parents advocacy for his protections. My son also witnessed the child that was beaten by several other boys and called me in hysteria that "he was next" the Principal and Staff have tried to cover up this incident as well as others, until we complained to District Officials nothing was being done to make campus safer. Director of Magnet told my son during a staff meeting with me included to "Stop Being a Victim". Currently we have been notified by the US Department of Education that an Official Investigation is in the initial stages and that they will investigate all of our allegations into AISD-Fulmore. We will be placing our children in another district pending Investigation.
—Submitted by a parent

We are almost done with our son's first year at Fulmore, and I give it a mixed but overall positive review. I don't think any school, particularly a middle school, could be perfect in every way! But our son's experience has overall been positive, especially with his teachers - he is definitely being challenged and excited intellectually which is really something to prize in a middle school! The other students in the magnet program are also a major plus, being smart, interesting, caring kids. That said, there seems to be a good deal of bullying and this year, some chaotic situations in common areas (outside, cafeteria, hallways) - the school is working to remedy/alleviate this, however, and the communication with the administration has improved a hundred-fold. We hope the atmosphere will continue to improve. My son knows he is getting a good education and wishes to stay, and he has definitely learned to cope with some challenging situations during his first year at Fulmore. A recent event where several students got into a fight while outside was horrible but reports of numbers of students involved and the degree of violence, lack of supervision, etc., have been exaggerated.
—Submitted by a parent

I am in 8th grade as a student at Fulmore( in the magnet program) and I would say it's eh. There are some really good teachers who actually make you use your brain in different ways (Stronger points are Pre Ap Science and English) and others just don't seem to care. The math program is not particulary good and there are lots of punishments for just small mistakes from the students. A lot of the staff don't seem to be changing anything and I don't know where the "Humanities" part to the magnet program is, although the Law courses are really good. Lots of gangsters who are usually racist to the other students. It can be "advanced" at times but I feel like in some courses we are just repeating the same worksheets and textbook work every year. Kinda glad to get out of this school but there are some stronger points to the fine arts. It's not quite what it's cracked up to be.

Now that my son has survived middle school, I'm compelled to write about Fulmore's so-called "magnet" program. My son's first year, 6th grade, at Fulmore was great and he was actually learning. The last two years? Not so much. For some bizarre reason over the past 2 years the teacher's collectively stopped giving daily homework and placed the onus on parents to spend a great deal of time going through websites to monitor the student's grades and progress. One of the main teaching tools seems to be "watching videos. These past 2 years, this last one in particularly, have been a disaster. And although our son is transitioning to a good high school with decent grades, this is through not help from his Fulmore teachers (with the exception of maybe 2). Sadly, a lot of them seem to be burned out and frustrated. I understand that teaching middle school is perhaps the toughest teaching job there is, but still, they're getting paid extra to be part of the magnet program. The principal is great, and we felt she worked hard on behalf of the students. The idea behind this program is a good one. The execution is poor. I hope they get it together before they lose their funding.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a terrible school. There is no parent-teacher interaction, but not for lack of trying. The office staff is rude and disorganized. They are quick to send good kids to BMC (behavior modification class) for slight mistakes or misunderstandings. If your child is a couple minutes tardy they will send the kid to sit in the office for the entire class period, way to punish long bathroom breaks... don't educate them in return! The one decent - different thing about this school are the extracurricular activities. I'll be rescuing my son from this chaos ASAP.
—Submitted by a parent

Fulmore is a fantastic model magnet school! Neighborhood students as well as those who are bused to the school are provided with opportunities to learn philosophy, law, fine arts, world languages, Shakespeare, and so much more. This humanities and law magnet school provides a microcosm of a successful educational society in so many ways! It is one of Austin's best kept secrets in the heart of the capital city on Congress Avenue.

I love the Fulmore magnet program because it is an environment that nurtures the whole student. Fulmore has made Middle School a pleasure, a safe and challenging place for my kid to stretch and try new things with the knowledge that the teachers and staff are there to help him succeed.
—Submitted by a parent

Fulmore Middle School's magnet program has provided my daughter with the intellectual challenges and opportunities of a private school, in a diverse public school setting. She has been challenged in fun and creative ways, and loved the experience in every grade. The teachers are dedicated and caring.
—Submitted by a parent

Fulmore has lots going on in addition to a solid classroom experience. Many teachers spend a lot more of their own time on field trips, organizations, and events that give the kids not just learning, but a fund kind of learning that helps them enjoy school, not see it as a prison.
—Submitted by a parent

The staff is not responsable. They lose important registration papers and are rude. How can a school that has a staff with bad attetudes expect for students to have good attitudes. I tried to enroll my child for about a week before I had to go in person and do there job for them. I wonder if they treat all parents with this type of respect? God help the children who go there.
—Submitted by a parent

The school is horrible my daughter has gone there for three years now and her grades are worse than when we moved here. She was exemplary before going to Fulmore. The gangs and drugs are ramped as well as teenage pregnancy the staff is never responsible for anything, they single out children and find any thing to send them home are to court over They are selective in enforcing the dress code upon certain children. Worst school I have ever sent my child to she wasted 3 years there.
—Submitted by a parent

I currently attend Fulmore Middle School. I would rate it okay. One great aspect is the diversity. The magnet program is the part of school that I'm in and I think its neat how both comprehensive and magnet programs have classes together. However Fulmore has many flaws. Racism thrives at Fulmore from many students. People I don't even know have threatened to beat me up because I'm a "snowflake." Gangsters are present at Fulmore and the math program is pretty weak. Because of it reaching acedemically acceptable (YEAA) it has had budget cuts and some teachers on my first day pretty much told me they didn't want to be there. Fulmore has OUTSTANDING arts programs which do fantastic at UIL. In order to go to Fulmore you need to stand up for yourself, and take what people say with a grain of salt.

Variety of students/classes, awesome Magnet program with choice of Chinese and Japanese, Greek, Philosophy, etc.
—Submitted by a parent

Fulmore's magnet provides plenty of challenge and we love the atmosphere of caring. It's the people who work there that make the school such a fantastic middle school experience for any child. Yes, there are some students who get in trouble there--I challenge you to find a middle school where kids don't. But these issues are dealt with swiftly and education goes on. It's a fine middle school!
—Submitted by a parent

I have subbed at many schools in Austin, and let me tell you, this is on my 'do not return' list. I can handle students being disrespectful to a certain degree, but this was beyond what I have ever seen. On top of that, the vice principal came to my room and told me to not send anyone to the nurse again. I sent two girls to the nurse during the day for legitimate reasons with passes. I was looking out for the students' bell being. She also blamed me for the class being noisy 4 minutes before the bell rang. I can not come into a class that already has behavior problems and magically make it disappear in the 1.5 hour class I am monitoring. This responsibility falls to the teacher and the school. When a sub steps in to help your school and your teachers, be respectful.

Yikes! I substituted here for an 8th grade science teacher. The students would work on their packets complaining that all they do is packets. I had a group of extremely disrespectful boys that should have been placed into a different class. They should have not been with the others! I will not be going back to this school.
—Submitted by a teacher

Very disorganized magnet program! Nobody seems to know deadlines for independent projects such as Science Fair, National History Day, etc. Math 6 pre-AP program teaches things my daughter learned in 4th grade. Low standards, even lower expectations, and the Campus Police yell at the kids as if they are criminals. Biggest mistake I ever made sending her there!
—Submitted by a parent

Fulmore Magnet has excited and engaged my son, who is now entering 7th grade. It is a slice of the real world, with diverse kids and attitudes and beliefs. My son loves his classes (especially electives such as Visual Media, Law, and Mariachi band) and has had a wonderful social experience as well. Bravo, Fulmore!
—Submitted by a parent

There are many great teachers however the leadership needs to be more friendly. Many teachers are leaving next year which is not a good sign. Electives and extracurriculars are stellar.
—Submitted by a teacher