William H Byrd Middle School

I am one of the few parents that stays in Cedar Hill and is forced to go to this Duncanville school. We were in Cedar Hill ISD but the schools that we were near were terrible. Having heard great things about Duncanville ISD being the best school district out of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Desoto, and Lancaster. We weren't worried. Ha! We should have. We bought a huge house and spent a lot of money to be near another terrible school. At this school, Administrators and teachers never call back. The technology is behind. Duncanville "touts" that they are saving money. But some of the teachers are not using books nor online accessible websites. As a parent, if you're not going to use a book...I should be able to access what the teacher is teaching online. How can you teach Pre AP Math without a book. How about Duncanville post their Scope and Sequence or Curriculum online so we as parents can check on whether these teachers are doing their job. Or how about you post what the policy for teachers and administrators like you do for parents and students. We enrolled our children in an online school afternoon program. They've done better at teaching than this school.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is about the WORST school that you can find!! The kids there are cruel and, selfish. The teachers are not the best either. If you can STAY AWAY from this school!!

My daughter is a Special Education student at this school. She is struggling in her core subjects, however in Band she excels. If it weren't for the Band program, she probably would fall by the way side, and eventually drop out of school. Band has helped her self-esteem, and her over all attitude towards school.
--Submitted by a parent

Band is excellent, just as it is at a lower level and in high school. My son is in the middle school level in his 2nd year. He also loves band, and excels. I think that band has been and will be an asset to my kids' growth, in teamwork, responsibilty, and realizing that hard work pays off. It is difficult to combine band with the athletic teams, but an effort is made to do so, between the coaches and directors. Being involved in band or choir helps the kids to keep out of trouble.
--Submitted by a parent

7th grade teachers need to assign homework. We never know when the child has homework or even if he does we don't know about because the answer is always the same.'The teachers don't give homework.' Parents are in the dark about school activities when it comes to non-uniform days or social events. Web site contains little to no useful information in this regard. And I don't see where No Pass No Play is enforced. No Pass No Play means just that in my book. As parents we stay very involved, however some of the things we hear about chills me to the bone.
--Submitted by a parent

Not a bad school at all, but I haven't been completely impressed with the faculty and staff. The band faculty is good and very dedicated but in my experience in sports (girls volleyball) there seemed to be quite a bit of favoritism. Not saying my daughter is a 'superb' volleyball player, but she certainly doesn't deserve to only play 4 minutes out of each game. She can't improve without the experience.
--Submitted by Drake Hawkins, a parent

Average academic programs. Not very many extracurricular activities.
--Submitted by a parent

My child was a member of GATE and of course these students perform at a higher level. All of his teachers were very professional and his counselor was outstanding in helping us select his schedule. The Principals were great in removing all of the problem students when they became aware of them. I still believe that parent participation cuts down on complaints about Teachers not teaching or Principals to mean and not caring. You must remember they are there to teach not babysit our children.
--Submitted by Sylvia Washington, a parent

Byrd is very overcrowded but this will improve with a 3rd middle school scheduled for 2005. My youngest child will be an 8th grade student. He had an acceptable learning experience overall.
--Submitted by Diane, a parent

My child's school year was not a good experience. He had a couple of young teachers that were not good leaders or authority figures. The 'unwise' Teachers were very negative, sarcastic, and condescending to my child. It appears that they were not aware of the power they possess as leaders during a child's most formative years.
--Submitted by a parent