Stafford Middle School

Overall I will say SMS is average. However, a large concern, for me and my husband-both working parents, is there is zero, before and after school care or activities for students. O.k. for those parents that work in the local area or can afford to stay at home-but thinking on a larger scale; what about parents that can not get to SMS to those after school extracurricular activities, timely to pick up you kids? The 'child' suffers. Stafford County itself must do a better job in supporting it's children. Remember, 'It takes a village to raise a child'.
—Submitted by a parent

SMS has made great improvements since it is no longer over crowded. The Y science program is awesome. I use to sub at SMS and dreaded going in when it was over crowded. Last year the school took a turn for the good. Now it is even better. Teachers are very friendly and send home progress reports. I beleive many of the negative comments on here were when the school was extremely over crowded.
—Submitted by a parent

Stafford is a great school! My daughter loved her teachers and always looked forward to going to school. I think the parents have to be involved to make school great for kids. The kids need help at home to get good grades, and I wish parents would wake up to this.
—Submitted by a parent

I think Stafford Middle is a great school. The only problem at SMS is overcrowding. When I come from my fifth period class and I go to sixth I could barley even get by to get to my next class, so I'm always late to that class. But other then that they have great after school activities and the band and chorus programs are really good. Teachers' at SMS are very good and know how to teach.
—Submitted by a student

Unfortunately this is not a kid friendly school. Bullying is an issue and is not being addressed. There are some really good teachers and if you are lucky your child will get one of them. Overcrowding is a problem.
—Submitted by a parent

We moved here almost a year ago. I've been very pleased with the quality of my upcoming 7th grader's education. Teachers are involved and seem to really care for the kids. We are a military family and have experienced various school systems throughout the Eastern U.S. Stafford Middle is definitely top-notch.
—Submitted by a parent

I like the school very much but the one thing i don't like is the teachers there they just don't explain very good. I love the band teacher , he explains very good.
—Submitted by a student

We moved to Stafford Co. from Fairfax 3 yrs. ago and are very happy with the schools. SMS handles the transition from elementary very well, segregating the 6th graders from the other students; introducing them to not only the practical issues of changing classes, lockers, getting themselves to class individually, etc, but also to the changing social scene of the teen years. I could not be more impressed with my daughter's teachers and the their genuine care for the students. Academically, I think they are above average, even better than Fairfax. There are some behavior problems but that arises from the home not the school. They have great art teachers and a variety of after school sports prgrams, as well as intramural sports before school. Overall parental involvement is a little low, as I keep seeing the same parents volunteer at most events. We would choose SMS again!
—Submitted by Michelle, a parent

My child began the 6th grade year easily. 7th grade began very rough but with two meetings involving the teaching team,the assistant principal, the school counselor and the school psychologist, things have improved significantly. I am very grateful to everyone that has met with me to help my child succeed.
—Submitted by a parent

my sons seems to be a victom of the no child left behind laws. being pushed thru elementary school at widewater elementary , i had to have him repete in 6 th grade. i have found that teachers are lacking in the knowledge of handling homework and getting papers and projects graded in a timely manner. therefore report cards are not correct when brought home to parents for review. bullying and fighting in elementary and on the busses are a big problem wich neather school does anything about. and i am seeing a division between the haves and the have nots (rich kids verses poor). teachers say they will help but do nothing. my son is now a straight F student of stafford middle school!
—Submitted by a parent

The academics of this school are above average. There is little favortism, but not a lot. If your child is interested in extracurricular activites, Stafford Middle School (SMS) has an extended amount of them. The sport coaching may not be the best, but they do aquire some credit. There are many levels of performing arts and hands on art. SMS has a great technology resource. Parent involvement could be better, and communication is low. The main issue is that SMS is overcrowded. When I was a student (2002-2004) there were on average eighteen to twenty students, giving teachers a challenge. To sum this review Stafford Middle has minor problems to work on, but is a great school overall.
—Submitted by a parent

I feel the previous reviews are by disgruntled parents that haven't 'gotten their way' - the school is an instrument in which your child is taught, but responsibility is borne at home and as such, is the parents' job to assure their child is well prepared for the task of being a student. That said, I want to congratulate SMS on a great job in the areas they are responsible for; the teaching, encouraging, enlightening and protection of my children. They have done an outstanding job! Although there are kinks in any school system (usually misbehaved/ill-mannered children) I don't expect the school to discipline or teach my children manners. My job. I am sure the class sizes will grow with the influx of people, but SMS does it's best and FFX still has a huge ratio (33/1) than does Stafford (25/1) and new schools are being built. Congratulations to Mr. Butters and staff!
—Submitted by a parent

Communication with the principal and assist principal Mr. Butters & Mr. J. Howard are poor. As well as communication with the teacher's. Lack of activities for the children. There is no motivation for the children to do better. There behavior system is a joke. The principal as well as the assistant principal fail to take responsiblity for how that school is ran. I feel the school is ran on favortism, and the only people who are suffering are the students. Books are in poor conditions. And personally I feel the school can use some investigation to how things are taught and handled. As a parent this school is the worst I have ever seen. That is why I am removing my child.
—Submitted by a parent

Overall I think its a good school. Probably one of the better schools in Stafford County. However with more and more people moving to Stafford County things are getting crowded and I think that will impact the schools. My son is doing well in school and his teachers let me know when his work isn't what it can be.
—Submitted by a parent

Lack of communication throughout the school starting with the teachers, counselors, asst principal and especially the principal. Administrative habits are poor.
—Submitted by a parent