Pacific Trails Middle

I have two children at this school now. The school facilities and teachers are terrific. For Fall 2020, the classes are online only due to the pandemic. The teachers are now very organized, unlike earlier in the spring. The online classes are very effective and there are high expectations for the students. It is not as good as in person classes but I am impressed with the quality of the education under the circumstances. I highly recommend this school.

i dont know what the heck that person is talking about, but i personally think its a great school.

Thus far the focus of the school is on construction, murals, and non-instructional activities. Meanwhile students struggle in classrooms with teachers who do not teach and instead assign work and post links to worksheets, word lists, and videos online so students can go home and learn themselves or with their parents. There is a lack of understanding of instructional strategies, differentiation between "regular" and "honors" courses, and appropriate assessments. Teacher gradebooks do not all reflect the myriad of approaches necessary for middle school students to learn, such as discussion of processes and concepts in math. These same gradebooks reflect an over emphasis on tests - 70 percent in math - so that the classes are designed to assign - test - and move on to the next assignment without any reteaching or adjustments based on success or struggles. Overall there is an incredible gap between the written vision and the actual school atmosphere. Parents are talking amongst themselves and they are unhappy and yet it takes the principal up to a week to even return a phone call or schedule a meeting with a parent for a conversation.