Beaver Dam Middle School

this school has always had struggles that go beyond what the outside public know about. Many of those struggles are not able to be affected by the staff, therefore creating a less than conducive environment for learning. This being said, the teachers have always been committed to their job and love what they do. Otherwise they would not be there. For those of you who do not agree, I would urge you, if you don't already, to go get your degree and step into the trenches and see how well you do......
--Submitted by a teacher

I could not disagree with the reviews more. This school has people who go above and beyond for all kids. My child was struggling and two houses have worked with him and done amazing things for kids.
--Submitted by a parent

The reviews on this site are limited in scope. The school personnel typically go above and beyond for children. My child had an exceptional education at BDMS
--Submitted by a parent

I completely agree with the experiences of these other reviews. I don't know what the best solution for this school is but my priority has to be my child's education and at this point he's gone from thriving and enjoying school in his earlier years to trying not to say anything and keep his head down. We can't give him a pass to disrepect his teachers, we can't give him a pass not to go to school. He now dislikes everything about school. If I had sole veto power, he would not be attending this school for another minute; his future is too important. Teaching and being positive role models vs. publicly putting-down, discouraging and constantly handing out punishments is where their focus needs to be. They've created a negative environment for these kids whether they realize it or not.
--Submitted by a parent

Remember school is like a job for children. Teachers should be able to teach the child what they need to learn while they are in school. When each teacher sends homework home the child has to go home and do 3-4-5-6 hours of homework that is like overtime for a person at a job. How rediculous is that? They need some time for themselves. They are exhausted. You should not have to wonder why the dropout rate is 25 percent. Beaver Dam middle school has way to much homework. That shows the poorness of the teacher if you can not teach the students while they are in school. If a student got a half hour homework from 4 classes (and I doubt if it would be only a half hour) that is already 2 hours and that is too much. Children who ride the bus get home at 4 p.m.

This school does not understand the maturity of the students that attend and dont respond to them like they are adults. They need to lay back on presentations and focus on the morale of students
--Submitted by a parent

I agree that it is difficult to get homework for students who miss classes. The teachers are not sympathetic at all to family emergencies or illness. I am seriously looking into moving my kids to Wayland for high school.
--Submitted by a parent

No books are available to the students so when they miss a day at school, you can call the homework hotline, but the handouts and other materials are not available for the students to make-up their work. The school does not communicate well with students if things are going wrong (missing homework, flunking classes, fights at school, etc.). I believe this school would benefit from reviewing how other Middle Schools are run (i.e. Madison, etc.)
--Submitted by a parent