Vanston Middle School

The school year started out for my daughter poorly. The first couple of weeks there was bullying and the remainder of the year continued along that theme. Also her wallet was stolen. The Principle would never respond to concerns. It was as if he was a ghost. Then in order to get a response from the Assistant Principle regarding the persistant bullying, I had to be persistant and then it appeared as if there was an irritation because a parent was actually involved with their child's well being. I had to resort to calling the School Board but I was just re-routed to the Principal and received the Principal's Asst. I never received a response from the Principal. They were so irritated until the campus officer yelled at my daughter and and said that she was lying although another student had witnessed the bullying. The witness was told that she was lying too. I was given all kinds of reasons why they couldn't do anything about the bullying but not given a resolution how the bullying could be resolved. I had to move my daughter to another school.
--Submitted by a parent

My son went through Vanston and enjoyed it. He made good freinds there that he has in North Mesquite High school, He participated in extracurricular activities, and even rode the bus to and from school and still came home happy almost everyday. Pretty good experience for middle school in my opinion. Several of the teachers here are outstanding and took great interest in helping him succeed. I even found it interesting how much effort they used promoting college in 8th grade, trying to help him find his major interest and career path.
--Submitted by a parent

While there are a handful of excellent teachers, the overall staff is too busy worrying about 'the TEST', and dealing with students who cause problems to do anything resembling teaching. My child in NJHS, and all AP classes and is Bored, and becoming disheartened. The counselors are a joke . At a time when children should be pointed towards college goals, this school does all it can to discourage them. Communication to the parents is non-existent, the web page may as well be blank, parents are not utilized as partners, and overall this school seems determined to fulfill the expectation of failure as the standard. Kids will gladly sink to the lowest standard set for them, and this one is rock bottom.
--Submitted by Theresa Baker, a parent

Vanston has been a great school for our son. He was a member of the National Junior Honor Society and with the exception of parent involvement, we think it's a near-perfect middle school here in Mesquite.