Eastern Middle School

In desperate need of a renovation but the Humanities program is immaculate.

The teachers try their hardest, but the building is just awful. Our school is in very bad shape and STILL hasn't had a renovation. Schools like North Bethesda are large, fancy, and getting new things often whereas our school is small, broken down, and falling apart. All of our windows have ripped screens (where we have windows - at least one classroom is windowless). In the fitness room, there is a rusty area of the floor where rust dripped in from the broken ceiling. There are multiple places, in fact, where the ceiling is broken. The hallways aren't nearly wide enough for the 900 students Eastern Middle School has. The walls in the hallways are chipped and have holes large enough for rats in them - we've been warned about rats in lockers. Last time they were tested, some of our water fountains have lead and multiple run of white or brown water. The temperature is always terrible - boiling in summer and freezing in winter. The bathrooms are in terrible shape; toilets don't flush, sinks don't turn on, doors don't have latches. Large cockroaches are everywhere: one crawled onto my shoulder. Considering that we live in a wealthy country in a wealthy state in a wealthy county that has many other fancy schools, there is NO reason that Eastern should look like this. I should be able to drink water without fear of lead poisoning and go home without checking myself for cockroaches. I'm in the magnet program and stay because the education is good, but the learning environment is... less than amazing.

There are consistent water leaks in the ceilings and walls, cockroaches are commonly found in the hallways, in classrooms, and the temperature ranges from about 50 degrees to 85 degrees. The building is in awful condition and needs a renovation, but is consistently denied. Winter and summer temperature conditions in the building makes learning incredibly hard. Most teachers are great.