Mcdougle Middle School

My son is in the middle of the 6th grade year and so far things are going very well. I have found that teachers respond very quickly to my emails and are happy to work with me to ensure his success. They have been understanding and supportive. My son was having trouble getting used to the increased need for organization and increased work, but the teachers all worked with me to help him. He got 3 As and 4 Bs the first quarter, and 6As and 1 B the second quarter. Mr. Rayfield is, as another parent said, an absolute gem. Mr. Giral is one of the coolest science teachers ever, Mr. Cowan and Mr. Grigg are just wonderful. Mr. Grigg does a lot for the kids with the TSA organization, he devotes so much of his time outside of school. All the teachers seem reasonable and want to help the kids as much as they can. As a parent, always form a partnership with the teachers, and help out at the school when you can, it forms good relationships and trust, wherever you go. And use PowerSchool early and often, and get your kid using it too. It provides feedback throughout the quarters so you can be on top of things as they happen, instead of finding out when report cards are already out.

I've had one son go through the school and the second one is in his last year here. Let me tell you, the difference is night and day. It all starts in the front office, there was a huge issue with leadership the last time through. The principal still seems to be just counting her days until retirement. However the biggest difference we have noticed is Mr. Bales. His addition to the school seems to have had a very positive effect on the school as a whole. I actually get phone calls back with solutions very quickly!!! Not just rude calls 2 weeks too late. I've talked with teachers (by the way Mr. Rayfield is the absolute best) and they seem to have a renewed fire and are running with it with the students as well. The teachers seem to like being there, even with the politics in NC the past few years. I'm hoping this year is as good as the last two

As a student, I truly enjoy McDougle. There are, however, a couple issues that I feel should be fixed. One: this school is not even near clean. Mold. Disgusting. Two: the receptionist. Asked her where the nurse was (I nearly threw up), and she never said anything. Lovely. Three: the orchestra/chorus teacher. He is unorganized, treats one student above all, and appears to have a least favorite instrument. Which I find irritating because this is MY education, here. Other than that, everything is fine. I enjoy all my classes (save math and orchestra), and I find the librarians to be especially nice.

This school is THE most terrible school of the entire district. The teachers pressure the students for the entire year to do well on their standardized testing, they forget to actually teach the kids! This school is has no attention to the individual students, and all they care about is that the EOG scores are high. I have had 3 kids at this school, and every single one hated it. The principal is just counting down her days until retirement, not even doing anything about her leadership position. McDougle has insane amounts of bullying, from students and teachers alike. They will publicly embarrass the students in front of their peers. Do not send your students to this school! The emotional damage this school left on my children is OBSCENE. There is a huge communication issue at this school, and it is not being addressed. The teachers WILL NOT answer any emails. It's a dangerous facility. Do not put your students through the horrors of this prison.