McClure Middle School

The review below mine is contradictory stating that "student behavior issues...are profound and inumerous [sic]" and that "kids are mostly well-behaved". Which is it? I believe this reviewer's grammar and spelling speaks volumes. McClure, Seattle's smallest middle school, is excellent and the best school at which I've taught. Students receive more attention than those at larger middle schools, some of which house nearly a thousand students. Teachers know their student and families. The PTA is very active and helpful, raising tens of thousands of dollars to support student learning. McClure uses first-rate curriculum with fidelity. Language arts classes use reading and writing workshop, a highly effective curriculum that promotes authentic literacy. Math, science, and social studies also have strong curriculum. Dedicated teachers work together closely to help students. These are the most polite, respectful, and talented students with whom I've ever worked. Many produce high-school-level writing. When behavior issues arise, which is inevitable in any middle school, administration responds quickly and appropriately. If I had children, they would attend McClure Middle School.
—Submitted by a teacher

Yes, the school sits in a wealthy neighborhood, but that doesn't mean that the school is necesarily successful. This school is run poorly, and has a Principal & Counseling/Student Discipline staff that are not proficient in curbing student behavior issues--which are profound and inumerous!. As a substitute-teacher, I have worked all Seattle Schools. Take my word for it, don't send your child to this one. Some great teachers, but dealing w/the admin. will only give you and child headaches and a distasteful experience. School has great potential--kids are mostly well-behaved, but until admin. is removed, no progress can be made!
—Submitted by a teacher

My son has gone to McClure for two years and is currently in 7th Grade. I agree with a previous poster who thought that there were some really good teachers intermixed with alot of mediocre teachers. I'm not sure if it's burnout, or inadequate teaching/organization skills, but some of these teachers are very frustrating! My son turns in papers to several of his teachers who then can't find the assignments! It's not ALL his teachers, it's the same two. It is really frustrating. My son doesn't really complain; he just mentions how confusing and disorganized some of his teachers are. My personal standard is, if something isn't working, change the way you do it! It just seems it is easier to blame the students and not admit their system may not be working. On a positive, the new language arts teacher ROCKS!
—Submitted by a parent

I am currently a student at McClure and I love it. The school is really small (approximately 450 kids total) which allows everyone to know everyone. They are extremely disorganized though, class sizes are uneven, at the beginning of the 2012-2013 year, one algebra class had 48 kids while another had only 18 kids; at least 75% of the students received schedules that had a missing class period and two of the same class. Counselors and office staff are very unresponsive and none of the staff have the same views on ANYTHING. Some teachers are downright horrible, parents and students signed a petition to get her kicked out but nothing happened & technology is very slow. Otherwise, the school is friendly and had lots of nice art and sport programs and programs for advanced learning.

Our child goes to McClure and likes the school. There are some excellent teachers there who are enthusiastic about their subjects, who take an interest in each child and do a great job. Some teachers are better than others; the quality of the experience for each class really depends on how good the teacher is, and how much he or she cares. The math and english teachers have been especially good. The principal's doing a good job and we've had good experiences whenever we've spoken with her about our child. It's a fine neighborhood school and we've been pleased with the whole experience.
—Submitted by a parent

McClure is a mediocre school in a great neighborhood. It has been "up and coming" for over 10 years, but never gets any better. The problem is the leadership, particularly the principal. The principal has no leadership and blames every problem on somebody else, and does little to improve the school. Class sizes are huge and very unevenly distributed. excuse: district didn't fund us. (It's funded exactly like every other school in Seattle, and sits in a neighborhood which richly supports ALL the other schools.) Discipline is terrible and incredibly inequitable. Large class sizes make that worse. Bullying is rampant, as are suspensions. excuse: We have to do it that way. Teacher turn over is tremendous, it lost nearly half it's teachers last year. excuse: Teachers are bad. Really? Even the ones hired by the principal? Arts have been all but eliminated in favor of things like computer literacy. Many teachers are actually very good. There are also quite a few duds. In some classes kids do next to nothing at all, even in core subjects. But the teacher turnover isn't getting rid of the weak teachers, it simply is churning through good ones leaving instability behind.
—Submitted by a parent

Everyone knows that teachers need smaller classes and more time with students but McClure really shows it, in the 2011-2012 school year they only had 1 teacher of each core class for each grade. While the majority of the teachers are very good at what they do, they lack the time and energy to do it. The schools bullying policy is atrocious with problems going unnoticed unless someone reports it to the councilors, and even then very little is likely to be done.
—Submitted by a teacher

There were some excellent teachers at McClure and some frankly atrocious teachers. Most teachers seemed overwhelmed with their workload and seemed to view parent communications as an inconvenience. The biggest problem with Mc Clure is the lack of leadership on the part of the Principal. Bullying was a big problem. Large problems were ignored and there was an overreaction to small conflicts between students. Overall if we could do it again we would not have sent our student to McClure. Hopefully they will get their act together, the community is counting on it.
—Submitted by a parent

There are many teachers at McClure who are just wonderful! (Though a few who are OK) The music program is excellent with a very good teacher. For transitoning the new 6th graders they have a very good program called WEB (where everybody belongs). It teaches the kids many new skills, getting comfortable with the school, and the 8th grade WEB leaders become their first middle school buddies.
—Submitted by a parent

Our family attended the open house event on March 24, 2011. We live on Queen Anne and have a 4th grader at John Hay School so we were learning about and touring McClure School for the first time. Overall the school seemed just OK and I worry about 3 mediocre years there. The competent and engaging Language Arts teacher was the highlight. The Science teacher was enthusiastic and hands-on. The other teachers we saw were just OK. The principal's response to a parent's question about PTA involvement and fund-raising was disappointing because she seemed to be saying that students don't really want their parents to be involved much any more (sigh..this may be true), and beyond purchasing a some specific equipment items (her example was music stands), the school was doing alright and she understands how growing teens will consume more of a family's funds. I wonder if she realizes that Hay & Coe parents tend to have the time, funds and interest to make their child's public school the best it can be. This is a huge opportunity for community relationship building with the QA neighborhood, as well as improving the vibe and atmosphere of the school. Hopefully she'll think big!
—Submitted by a parent

I agree the school does little to communicate what needs to be done. Especially for 6th graders that are transitioning. Some of the teachers are even mean. I do not recommend this school. They actually suggested that my young daughter take the Metro bus alone. I am appalled. I will try to get my child in private school next year. She was at the top of her class last year and this year is just awful so far.
—Submitted by a parent

The grade 6 class entering this school for 2011 is amazing. I just see tons of parent evolvement that is going to enable change and improvements especially with the new school plan in place. McClure is a queen anne school very local and convenient, safe surroundings. We met with the Math teacher and are very impressed. Our kid is doing excellent in math and I am not at all worried about the level of education he can achieve at McClure. See you all next year!!!
—Submitted by a parent

I keep hearing really great things about McClure and am so excited about how many of my son s friends from Coe will be attending next year. The level of parent involvement at Coe elementary is outstanding, and with so many students from Coe s 5th grade class attending McClure next year, the school can only get better. The open house for incoming 6th graders was very informative and I was really impressed by the principal and all of the teachers I met. My neighbor s son is an 8th grader at McClure and she s very happy with their ability to provide academic challenge to her son whose IQ is off the charts. I m looking forward to seeing even more positive changes in this school and am glad my son will be a part of it.
—Submitted by a parent

The school gets a disproportionate number of students who travel from the Central District and thus gets proportionately less parental involvement from those parents because of distance and transportation issues. The school can use all the support it can get.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a student at BHS currently and had my last year at McClure Last year. Coming from John Hay the transition was quick easy and painless i met great people and had great grades. But after reading through all of these reviews im a little appalled and actually laughing at alot of the bad review, McClure (as with all middle schools) is what you make of it. People are bussed in all throughout the city making it amazingly diverse and multicultural. In my graduating class from this school i do not know one person who actually tried to get good grades who didn't get the grades. The teachers are amazing i had a great experience being a t.a. for a year for the autism teacher (great program look into it!). Ms.Pritchett Is Fabulous and all of the other administrators are too! Don't listen to the bad rep this school gets!
—Submitted by a student

We have a daughter in her last year at McClure, and a son who will be in 6th grade at this school next year. Our daughter has had a very good experience at McClure and has benefited tremendously from the variety of students that attend there. We have always felt that she is in a safe and secure environment. We also believe that she has progressed very well from a social and academic standpoint. She is very ready high school. The vast majority of the staff seem very enthusiastic, sincere, and engaging. The new principal, Sarah Pritchett has really stepped up to the challenge and displays a great deal of energy. I have witnessed Sarah as she deals with the various students and she exhibits a natural ability to relate to the youth, and also displays a sensitivity to the differences between the various levels/grades of the students.
—Submitted by a parent

We love McClure. We were at first skeptical of the school and had heard negative reviews. We decided after meeting the new principal and the rest of the McClure team, we would give it a try. We can see the changes and improvements being made, and the community/parents are helping to do this. Our son comes home everyday saying what a great day it was at school. I am glad we made the choice to support our neighborhood school.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers are dedicated, the student body is racially and economically diverse and there seems to be burgeoning support from the parents. I'd say McClure is a rising star. We've been pleasantly surprised with the experience of our 6th grader this year. Sure middle schools have their problems, but the leadership here -- especially the new principal and vice principal -- is taking care of business. We think McClure is only going to get better.
—Submitted by a parent

We had heard negative comments about McClure, but none were from people who were connected with the school. They were from parents of other schools, who typically would say, 'Oh, I heard that McClure is (such and such...)' The positive comments were not only from the teachers themselves, but from external organizations that worked with the school -- and that spoke volumes to us. We were happy to find the educators committed, engaging and enthusiastic about teaching. It isn't without its problems. Low parental involvement and funding keep it from becoming the top-notch school it could easily become like its neighboring grade schools. But, the good news is there's strong momentum going forward and we're proud to be part of it.
—Submitted by a parent

This is my daughter's third year at McClure. I will have a sixth grader next year. I have found many of the teachers to be exceptional esp. Language Arts/Social Studies. Teachers and counselors are great communicators and seem to genuinally care about my daughter despite her cranky, teen-age attitide. This is the librarian's ( Ms. Gale) third year. She is fabulous and has transformed the library to become truly the heart of the school. We have met kids from all over the city and the world. The school is small so staff really know the kids. A small army of parents, staff and kids have rejuvenated the school with paint and lots of elbow grease! The principle is involved and comitted. I urge people to give McClure a chance. It breaks my heart that people who live in QA/Magnolia don't sent their kids there.
—Submitted by a parent