Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School

Not happy with the school. We had very unpleasant experience there.

I have worked as a teacher for 22 years and have been a staff member of 2 Blue Ribbon Schools recognized by the US Department of Education. In my experience, Kinard is an excellent school worth considering for a middle school student. I'm particularly pleased with how the Arts, Physical Wellness, and World Languages are considered academic classes, not just electives. While I've always been a fan of neighborhood schools, we see great opportunities for them at Kinard.

Kinard is a great school. I had a wonderful time over there. I was just a freshman at Fossil Ridge highschool and I was able to see a difference between the students that went to Kinard and the ones that went to Preston. (This review is to help decide whether to go with Kinard or Preston). First of all, the kids that went to Preston seem to be more concerned with being popular. They don't care for learning as much. (NOT ALL FORMER PRESTON KIDS ARE LIKE THIS). They seem to be less focused in class and be more foolish and like to waste time. Another thing is that I feel like students that went to Kinard seemed to have learned more. In my English class for example we read The Odyessey. I read that in sixth grade.I asked kids that went to Preston if they read this book they said no. I remember my teacher teaching us about it. Although it was an easier version I was able to understand it more the second time I read it. Another example would be also in my English class when we were reading to kill a mocking bird. So we also had to learn about civil Rights. Kids that went to Preston never heard about the civil rights. It looked like they learned nothing about it middle school. I learned about as 8th grader at Kinard. We had a huge unit on it! The students that went to Preston were asking all these questions about it! I have also noticed in some other classes, where they haven't learned important background information.Third of all the kids that went to Kinard are just more focused and listen to the teacher better. With classes that I have more Preston with tend to be louder and have more distractions than classes with Kinard kids. Some kids that transferred from Preston to Kinard told me at Preston it was very un organized and it seemed like the teachers didn't care.Kinard is great school. It's more well rounded, you get to try more things and there are more requirements to make you a better student. For example we take language earlier than Preston student. My language requirements will be done as a sophomore. While you still have kids needing to take language still because they are not done with the requirements. Everything at Kinard was pretty much great. At Kinard I was able to take honors classes so I could be able to see how highschool work was like. All those tests prepared me for Fossil. Some of the teachers wouldn't let you re take things too at Kinard.

I agree with two of the parents who have posted before me. Kinard is not a good place for students who want to be college ready and use their brains for something other than memorization. Testing, retesting, and testing again is what is emphasized. As an example-- in the month of February (a short one by most measures) my child had 10 tests in science, 5 tests in math, 12 tests in English, and 2 tests in spanish. Rarely a day goes by that she doesn't have a test in something. These numbers do not even include any "retesting" that may occur if a student doesn't score highly enough (thankfully she didn't have any retests in February!). How are they learning anything with that much time dedicated to tests??? This doesn't even include the time spent on the state standardized tests!!! Will not be back here next year!