Jefferson Middle

To the parent from Virginia with a student at Jefferson Middle School: I acknowledge the validity of most of your points (especially the morning traffic -- you need to be on traffic duty to see just how crazy people can be). However, I take exception to your point about the district's choice plan. (You said, "a real lack of diversity" and "letting parents pick and choose their district.") A teacher in WSFCS for ten years and a parent with students in the system for thirty years, I have watched the district move from forced busing to neighborhood school assignment. Overnight the district re-segregated. Then the magnet program was introduced. Slowly and with great difficulty the program has turned into a strength. Plan to attend the Magnet School Fair January 5 at the Benton Convention Center. Depending on what year your student is in at Jefferson, you may want to consider moving to one of the magnet programs. At least you will have a better perspective on which high school your student may attend. All the magnet schools have a liberal visitation programs. You may tour the schools. Your student can "shadow" a student for a day partial day. The options are worth exploring.

Originally from Virginia, we moved to Winston-Salem this summer and the Forsyth County Schools have been a disappointment. At Jefferson, my popular outgoing son from Va is treated rudely or ignored by the students on his AG team. Although the counselor is working hard to help resolve this issue, there is a bigger dynamic going on within this school that I believe is not so easily fixed. In the cafeteria on my son's team, there is a table of all blacks who sit separately from the whites. There is a real lack of diversity at this school and my son is not fitting in with most of the students on his team. Academically, the school is behind his school in Virginia so the the "best" rated Middle School in Winston-Salem seems to be lacking but I suppose if you know no different than you have nothing to compare your experience to. Personally, I have almost been run down by other drivers in the parking lot on several occasions and with all of the problems my son is having with the students, this school is not worth the trouble of the 15 minute or more wait to get my son to and from school. I believe letting parents pick and choose their district is harming students in Forsyth County!

Jefferson Middle School is awesome! My son started sixth grade at Jefferson this year and has had a wonderful experience so far. The teachers care about the students and help them to be successful in school offering tutoring after school. The principal is great and he keeps parents well informed concerning school events as well as keeping track of A/B day schedule.

I am going to this school, and i just moved here and i am a girl, Jefferson is a good place but even though it might be rated very good, its an okay school. There is barely any homework even in the AG classes and if you are in band or orchestra, you probably might be very far ahead because they start an instrument only in 6th grade, which is pretty far behind. Not many people are in orchestra though. Also if you have never heard of Wallabees, you might want to look at them because to fit with more "popular" kids in you have to have a bunch of Wallabees, Uggs, and other expensive shoes. Also Wallabees are quite ugly, and in Jefferson they actually think they look good.... which is pretty weird... but thats just my opinion. Finding friends is kind of hard when there is more than 400 kids in the whole grade. Eh... well the teachers are pretty good, and the kids are not disciplined very well, and the classrooms are very packed full of kids because they have so many.