Research Brandon Middle School public Schools in Virginia Beach, Virginia

“I was so excited at the very first open house we attended all we heard was how important communication between the school and parents would be. Over the last 3 yrs. I have written e-mails, hand written notes, and e-mailed with no replies. I have scheduled 4 meetings with various teachers to discuss my issues only to have them tell me about the discipline problems they have had with my child. Why wasn't I being told when the discipline problems were happening? Why did they wait until I came to discuss their lack of communication problems and other issues?? I am not saying all the teachers I have come into contact with have been this way but the good majority of them have been. It is very disappointing when you can't get help for your children.”

“The school is fully of bullies.”

“The teachers were good but I was very disappointed with the school and the lack of discipline and respect of the students. If I knew then what I knew now, I would have opted for private or moved.”

“The academics are fine, as well as the music, art, extracurricular activities. The issues we see as a relocated family is the bullying, lack of discipline, children who are allowed to bully and seem to get away with it. This is disturbing to a child who never encountered such issues in past schools. We are looking for alternatives.”

“Academically I feel the school is fine. I think the teachers are good and have the students best interest in mind. My only concern is the bullying as other have stated. My son was constantly being pushed and hit most every day for a couple months before I became aware. How can that go unnoticed? I did bring it to one of his teacher's attention and she was very pro-active as well as the other core teachers she involved. It was handled but this is not the only incident. I hear the same things from other kids. Many kids are fearful of the other students. That is not a good learning environment to be in.”

“Well so far, Brandon has not been what I expected it to be. Its only been the third day and my son tells me that the cafeteria staff is giving him a hard time about remembering this 5 digit lunch code number. For crying out loud, he's not going to remember this number along with remembering his locker combination all in one night. This is all new to him. The teachers are kind of sassy allowing no excuses for anything. This makes me very upset because you should at least make the transition for sixth graders a little bit more 'user friendly.' So far i'm not impressed! Hopefully, it will get better. If not, I'm going to look into other options for school.”

“I personally would not have bought our home, had I known it was in Brandon School District. Everyone I tell that our children go, or will be attending there, raise their eyebrows or say, ' thats too bad'. The problems at Brandon will not be solved by the present administration, because you cannot resolve something that you refuse to acknowledge.”

“My child transferred from the West coast and we have found the school ACADEMICALLY not to be up to par with the school he was last with. The advanced classes are well below what my child is used to. The teachers are really nice, as is the staff. My child claims there is a racial barrier. One race pushes and shoves the other as they are going down the hallway, while the other uses the N word. It has never gone further, but still inappropriate. To the fairness of the school, we have not formally complained. After all this said my child overall likes the school. Overall, he feels safe. By the way, my child is white and the first people to introduce themselves to my child were the African American children. They were very kind. My child had had zero proplems making friends. Just stop the physical contact, all types.”

“Brandon Middle is an overall good school. I believe that the students may bring some probelms upon themselves. Principal needs some work, but teachers and security are wonderful!”

“You get out what you put in! My son was actively involved during his 3 years and loved it. Middle school is harder than elementary school, just as high school is harder than middle school, but if you apply yourself, no matter what your surroundings, you will succeed. The child that left elementary school becomes a young adult while they go through their 3 years at Brandon and the teachers and staff at Brandon are there to make that transition as easy as possible. Any problem that ever arose, and they were few, was dealt with swiftly and fairly. The teachers were positive, educated, and caring. The security is friendly and responsible. The school is clean thanks to a great janitorial staff. As for the previously mentioned rodents...hey folks, wise up, they are even in your grocery store!”

“I feel his is a bad school. I am very unsatisfied with the way everyday problems are treated. Some of the teachers are ,I feel there for the money and not to teach the kids. There is deffinatly a great deal of education taught here. Lately there was a mouse at the school and it was brutely beaten with a broom, in front of the students. Over all out of a possible 10 I would give the school a 5”

“Not as happy with Brandon middle as I was with Centerville Elem.Alot of kids are mean & bullying.Don't think the teachers are as invloved with the bullying issue.Not as much parent involvment.I believe middle school years are trying years for young students.All three of my children have had something going on here.”

“Brandon Middle School is not a good school. The teachers there are not good. The principal is not good. It's rats there and everything.”

“Brandon Middle School is a Virginia State Blue Ribbon Award winning school. It is an excellent school. And, I feel blessed that my daughter is a student there.”