Cradock Middle School

Cradock has changed dramatically over the years. It is apparent that the current leadership is concerned about the overall well-being of the students. Just look at all of the positive gains and student activities that are available to the students.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is the worst possible school to send your child to and we are in the process of moving out of Portsmouth so that we can get our son into a decent school. My son has special needs and has received little to no support in school. the administrators have little interest in seeing him succeed and NO interest in learning about autism. The is no communication back and forth and I even had the vice principal argue with me that my son's diagnosis wasn't one for autism!! I am disgusted with the school and would urge any parent who is considering moving to Portsmouth to NOT do it!
--Submitted by a parent

I can't beleive how terrible this school is it is falling apart all over the place. My children have been bullied and beat up and although i have brought this to the principal's attention several time she refused to take action agianst the repeated perpitrators. This school's curriculum is fine but the disipline is horrid.
--Submitted by a parent

When my son started Cradock in 2007 I was fearful of the fights and the indiscipline children. After a year I became more comfortable with him being there because of the changes and the tight discipline Dr. Sanderlin established. My son graduated yesterday with honors in the year they made history of becoming accredited. Hooooray!!
--Submitted by a parent

I can't believe that my husband and I allowed our son to stay at Craddock Middle for the past two years. I'm not complaining about his grades, because he is on the honor roll, however, I don't feel like he has done anything to earn those grades. He is a very smart young man, however, I don't feel like he is being challenged at this school. He rarely has homework and I am concerned that he will not be prepared for his freshman year in high school . It is a shame that our younger son in 4th grade brings more homework and graded papers home than our oldest son in Craddock. Whenever I visit this school the administrators are always dealing with some kind of behavior issues. We are so disappointed that we are moving to Chesapeake to give our children a better education.
--Submitted by a parent

This is my third and thank God my last child to go through Cradock Middle. My first two were smart and managed on their own. Now my son is struggling and can't seem to get the help he needs. He gets in plenty of trouble and we hear about that. But we don't hear that he hasn't done his homework or that he is one point away from failing his grade! Yeah i think the Portsmouth School System is awful and is in need of great repair. Thank goodness he has only four years to go.
--Submitted by a parent

I think that what Craddock Middle needs now more than ever is the support of the parents. These are our children and in order to make the school what we want it to be, we have to make our voices heard. Dr. Sanderlin is a great leader and runs a tight ship. She will support the parents and genuinely cares about our children.
--Submitted by a parent

My child has only been at this school 2mos.This school is unorganized and unprofessional. The students have walk through a metal detector. They do not have a watchful eye out for my child. The teacher have a I don't care attitude about teaching my child.
--Submitted by a parent

I am very upset at how this school is able to stay open without the state ruling over how the teachers and a lack of them teach our children. It is definitely not meeting any state codes. The students are passed on to get them out of the school. Home owners are paying for the taxes to see them pay wages for nothing. I do not think the children will know enough of the basic's to be able to achieve a quility career in their future. Staying in the Portsmouth school district is allowing a large number of future citizens to be low income families. What a waste of a god given natural resource. We will be lucky if we have one leader from our area school district in the future.
--Submitted by Claire Delsing, a parent

This school this year has been the worst yet. They don't have teachers for math and science for my daughter who is in honor classes. This school needs more money to pay the teachers so they will stay.
--Submitted by a parent