C. W. Ruckel Middle School

We are a military family who moved here from New York, I have 2 children one who is in the 7th grade the other in the 8th grade. Our experience in this school and the area (Niceville) in general has been such a positive one. The school offers basic, advanced and honors classes, they have a STEM program, my kids are in advanced and honors classes. They have homework every night, and are challenged academically daily. The teachers are some of the best educators you could ask for. My kids have had nothing but positive things to say about all of their teachers. Both of my kids finished this past school year with straight A's. The school continuously recognizes excellence from the kids. Their are a multitude of extra curricular actives to include, clubs, sports, music, sports etc. My kids are in honors band and both play sports. If you want your children to be challenged in a safe, positive and rewarding environment Ruckel Middle School is for you. I would be naïve to think that this school is perfect, and I would be dishonest to tell you the same. From my observations I can contest that this school has a hard time dealing with kids who aren't at a superior educational level. Meaning that a lot of the intelligent an self driven kids don't require much from their teachers. Children who need additional academic assistance and mentoring are more than likely going to be disappointed, as the teachers tend to apply maximum effort on educating the intelligent students. Neither of my children have experienced bullying personally but they have witnessed it on several occasions. The administration tends to turn a blind eye, unless the perpetrator is a bad student. The dress code is no different then what you would find anywhere else, unfortunately not one of the school administrators do anything to enforce it. In layman terms, if your children are talented and intelligent they will fit in. If your child(ren), are going to need additional educational assistance don't set you expectations too high. I tried to offer the most non bias review possible, I offered information about my children for the context of the review. Again, for my family this school has served us well, but I just wanted to offer an alternative side as well.

They turn a blind eye to any issues that might tarnish their rosy reputation. They just don't want to deal with messy situations that some kids get into; sex, drugs, etc.. So, they sweep it under a rug, candy coat it, whatever they feel they have to do. This creates an atmosphere of enabling and denial, which will only create bigger problems for the child and/or parents. Middle School age kids need structure, boundaries and sometimes a good kick in the pants! Their passive; "ignore the problem and maybe it will go away" approach just isn't practical and, in fact, nearly ruined our child's life.

With every school you have the good , the bad, and the ugly. This school overall is extremely effective in challenging their students. They're winners in their curriculum as well as their athletics department. Well done Ruckel. I do agree that they need better conflict resolution.

Honest review:The school academically and athletically speaking is great. Their programs are equally great, I.e., media center after school help and teachers that open their classroom doors early morning and evening to help struggling students. My son played in quite a few sports where he has been challenged to be better through work harder. I admire those coaches. That's the good. The bad. The administration lacks conflict solution training, the teachers whine about every little thing - and I mean EVERYTHING, , suspension for minor situations - maybe their making up for pasts mistakes, no real lesson on consequences... and my child was once told an eye for an eye when he was hit by another student bcuz earlier in the year when he and a group of boys were horse-playing he fell to the floor with another student. Yes, fell on another boy! Thus ok that he was punched in the face later on. My only hope is that this is not a racial problem seeing as my son is OBVIOUSLY mixed race. If you have a perfect child that's extremely self-motivated and athletic this is the school for you. 3 stars are based on the good they have to offer. 0 stars on their ability to manage students from an administrative stand point.