Glenridge Middle School

It sickens me that this school has such a high rating just due to past reviews. I have no clue how things were then, but trust me, they aren’t the same now. This school’s IB program is nothing short of a lie, since nearly every student gets into it, no matter if they are academically ready for it or not. The school’s approach to bullying is nonexistent, and as someone who was bullied by nearly everyone I knew, I should know that well. The staffing is probably one of the only okay things about this school, but there is a multitude of teachers who either are cruel to students or who don’t actually teach, and as they say, a bad apple ruins the whole bunch. The curriculum here is a joke, and it seems to change every year. Switching between paper and digital tests, what we’re required to have learned in a class from a prior year, upon a multitude of other things. The fine arts program is alright as well, but not near enough to save this school from its other horrific attributes.

I am an alumni, and I had a few problems when I was here. A lot of the richer kids can be snobs (with the exception of a few) and bullying is a huge problem. So many kids like to shove offensive opinions down your throat that they get from their parents. There are constantly fights going on at the school. Glenridge has really gotten worse since I left, from stories I heard from my underclassmen. There is a very large use of vape and drugs in the school, as well as leaking of nudes. The IB program is pretty useless, and kids are forced into honors classes for algebra 1, even if they can’t keep up with the curriculum. There are so many pretty bad teachers. The one great thing about this school, however, is the performing arts department. The teachers in this department are wonderful, especially the band director, Mr Sullivan. He makes sure the kids choose the right instrument for them, and really helps the kids learn music. I had him for band, and it really was a fun experience.

Overall, okay. School has many big weaknesses but there are the kids who have great personalities, despite the others who fall in to the catergories of spoiled, ghetto wannabe, and dull.

The students may or may not be a bad influence for your child. While this is not entirely the schools fault. Just a warning, our popular kids/ non-official role models to the student body, smoke/vape, send nudes (which may or may not be true) and have the worst attitude towards the teachers in our school. They flaunt these things onto social media and also get support/likes from other students for doing so. As I understand, kids are growing up, but we've just passed the barely-teens line and we still are a bunch of children.