Alexandria Middle School

I have 2 children in this school and one who has moved up to the high school. It has been a complete disappointment. It is next to impossible to get a teacher conference. The culture is awful; it is very apparent that many teachers do not like their jobs. The administration is constantly tweaking things; I'm all for improvement, but they don't allow any time to measure the impact of actions already taken. Next year, they are talking about separating students by gender in 7th & 8th grade; it's getting ridiculous. There is a lack of coordination of curriculum with the high school and other districts. Alexandria kids seem to be better prepard but wind up bored from repeating topics studied earlier. Chinese is offered as a foreign language but not offered at the high school level, and if the administration did their homework, they would learn that most Chinese who compete in the modern economy will have mastered English. They want only to deal with rubrics and fail to address the best interests and capabilities of the student regarding placement. This is apparent in the honors math program, and it causes difficulty at the high school level and college track of students interested in pursuing a math/science track. I know at least 3 recent cases of of capable students who have successfully coubled up on math during freshman or sophmore years, but really, why should they have to? Do the right thing from the start. Finally, I e been less than impressed with the principal. My personal experience is that he pays lip service to parent concerns. I had a bullying issue that went unaddressed. I'm looking forward to my children completing their time at AMS, and unfortunately, there are many other parents who feel similarly.