Herndon Middle School

Herndon Middle School is full of teachers that truly care and are invested in the success of students. The teachers here want to do the best for the kids and their futures. The phrase "there are too many cooks in the kitchen" is applicable to HMS. There are a lot of people that are to a fault and have great ideas. When all of these ideas are expected to be implimented in a matter of days the number of cooks in the kitchen interferes with the success of the dinner, or students in this case. Teachers are spread thin by the number of initiatives taking place and are working as hard has they can in order to meet the needs of the students and please the parents in the community.
--Submitted by a teacher

This school has a terrible BULLYING PROBLEM and staff that does not take it seriously or handle issues well. VERY DISAPPOINTING AND UTTERLY LACKING ADMINISTRATION-- particularly the principal. The combination of poor administration and their "management issues" with some of their incapable teaching staff has created an UNSAFE environment for students. Teachers who are not even aware of what is going on in their own classrooms. The Principal is one of the worst I've ever encountered - condescending and ineffective. We are shocked at how this school has such total disregard for parental and student concerns. Our experience at the school has given us a total lack of confidence in the school, the administration and some of the teachers. We are pulling our son from this school to send him to a better ranked middle school that has a ZERO tolerance policy for bullying. So sad to hear kids talk about being scared at school and being picked on and beaten up so much so they can't focus on their studies fully. What has happened to Herndon??? Totally agree with the parent that said this school and the administration has the ability to flip their straight A student like a pancake.
--Submitted by a parent

We dislike this school immensely and we have only been here 3 weeks. If it can go wrong, it has for my kids. From teachers that don't teach and expect the kids to teach themselves, to misinformation CONSTANTLY being given out to weekly fire drills yanking the kids out of class to teachers that don't seem to understand that not all kids are forceful to be first and some simply have manners to know to wait their turn but those are the kids that get screwed for doing so!...If I could give ZERO stars I would. Thoroughly disgusted with this school.
--Submitted by a parent

This school needs a change in administration! The rouge ideas that come from this building amaze me. Who would ever say that Homework is not a viable part of education? The kids have to do homework in ES and HS. Poor staff, I can only imagine what they must have to go though, the ones I have talked to dont believe in this policy, but are helpless to change it. Also, unless your child is in honors, the classes are a discipline disaster! Oh...and WHAT happened to the Team concept? It's gone from this Middle School.
--Submitted by a parent

If you are a student/parent who dislikes this school, I can understand where you are coming from. There are many problems in this school just like any other normal middle school would have, including lack of motivation. However, if you want your child/yourself to turn out great, there are many opportunities to do so by taking higher level math courses and music classes. Perhaps the best feature of Herndon Middle is the fact that they have their own 'marching' band that plays along side HHS's band. The band program is one of the few things I believe make this school worthwhile.

I detest this school. It's the worst my child has attended. The staff seem nice in person but all my children do is tell me how awful it is and the only thing I admire about this school is the 7th grade counslers.
--Submitted by a parent

They have an amazing staff. Great Band and honors program. Parents needs to get more involved with their kids education/school if you want your kids to succeed.
--Submitted by a parent

There are some great teachers here who love to teach, and I've been lucky to have some, but there are others who are awful and 95% of the students hate. Unfortunetly there are some teams where the majority of teachers are unsatisfactory.
--Submitted by a student

Schools can no easily rid themselves of teachers, admin and support staff they know are bad. Herndon has some great, absolutely dedicated staff and some terrible staff like every other school. Age of a teacher is not an automatic reflection of how well they teach, enthusiasm etc. There are absolutely terrible young teachers who think they know it all and there are teachers who should have retired long ago and some who just don't belong in a classroom or setting around youth. As parents, we are responsible for instilling work ethics and moral values in our kids. Herndon Middle provides an environment for every student to thrive if parents follow through on their responsibilities.
--Submitted by a parent

We've been extremely pleased with HMS. My son's teachers go out of their way to engage their students and help them really learn. My son is taking all advanced classes and loves school! Communication is great with all but one teacher and the principal is outstanding. As I've talked to other parents of 7th graders I've found their kids are having similar experiences. Excellent school with terrific, engaging teachers.
--Submitted by a parent