I am a Middle School teacher, I bounce around Sarasota County School district working at various schools as a relief teacher. Sarasota Middle School has the least amount of bulling, it has the best grades, a great sports, music and IT program. If I had to say what school is the best in the county for your child I would not hesitate to recommend Sarasota Middle School. Some of the others are good, but really do not compare, the school is like a family, it’s a happy place, this seems to works as the students get higher grades and go onto to better things.

This school is HORRIBLE. I have been here for 3 years now and my experience just keeps getting worse. The office staff does not treat students as if they are human beings and I feel like I am treated very unfairly. Most teachers (not all) just teach by the book in a very boring way that doesnt get you motivated at all to continue to expand your knowledge on the topic. Another problem I have is that the school basically worships IReady. We take valuable time off of our regular class schedules to focus on a boring program that does help encourage students, nor does it do a satisfactory job of teaching them. If you make a mistake and end up getting in trouble, the office will unfairly prosecute you without even getting your side of things. They will give you an over exaggerated punishment and then treat you as lesser for the rest of your time at the school. I could go on forever about all of the problems this school will present to you or your child. Please for the sake of your kid DO NOT send them to this school.

I think that Sarasota middle school is perfectly fine and they do a great job with everything! People have been complaining of drug use and fights but why blame the school!!!! If the students do anything wrong on school grounds they should be punished the school she have no part in that except punishing the kids and doing whats necessary. DO NOT BLAME THE SCHOOL!

This school is complete trash. I am now graduating from this school and I am so excited to finally leave this school. I started having depression because of this school and my teachers constantly discouraging me. DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILD TO THIS SCHOOL! If you do, good luck.

Ive heard about the fights and pupils being expelled but my daughter is really enjoying this school. She is now in her second year {7th grade) and loves every minute of the day. She looks forward to going to school, has made lots of friends and gets good grades. She does her homework every evening and never complains. Im very happy with the teachers. They are very professional. My daughter loves them!

As a student who will be graduating in a few weeks, I can say that I had a fantastic time at this school, however it does have some notable flaws. With the exception of one teacher (who I wont give the name of), every teacher I have had was absolutely amazing, and I have forged some great connections and friendships with them. When my science teacher had to leave last year, I was legitamentally heartbroken over his absence, thats the level of connection Ive been able to feel with my teachers here. Ive had numerous academic opportunities and experiences that I wouldnt have gotten anywhere else. And the band, OOH the band. I can not think of a more tight knit group of individuals, and a more fun class. Same with the teachers, I have grown a greater connection through individuals at this school, through the many opportunities it provided. There are some flaws with this school, currently at the very least. This year they decided to take about five minutes from each period to create a block of time where we do iReady. Despite what some people say below, no one really worships iReady. All I hear from teachers is contempt and anger over it. It is the single greatest waste of my time, a waste of the teachers time, and a waste of money. It is the one notable glaring flaw with this school. The school doesnt expel students randomly and without reason. Said expulsions were over death threats. But the school isnt too sensitive, I was able to wear a shirt of Kirby smoking that dank coosh (weed for the uninitiated), and almost none of the teachers commented on it. The staff is very understanding, if a tad strict at times. Its a very rigid system, which leads to a few annoyances. Once I went to the office for an ice pack, but I didnt have a pass so I had to walk all the way back to class to get one. However none of it is to such a degree where I feel like Im being treated inhumanly. Condescended to at points, sure, but isnt that all middle schools. In conclusion, send your child to this school if possible. It is an amazing experience, which has prepared me to move onto high school and onward properly. It was rated the best school in 2017 for a reason guys.

Ive been going to SMS since 6th grade (Im now finishing 8th grade) and Ive really enjoyed the teachers, the students, and my experience there. If you pick friends who are actually good people you will probable also have a great experience.

This school is really bad some teachers their are good but alot suck its honestly the worst school ever no one likes are school this year because every one is getting expelled for stupid reasons this school is just horrible and no one should go to it please dont go to it its the worst dont go dont go DONT GO its hhhhhhhoooooooorrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiibbbbbbbbbbbbbllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me start this with, if I could give it that low of a score, this school would have 0 stars.Old student, from 2012-2013, 6th grade. I have horrible PTSD, depression and generalized anxiety. The experience this school brought did not help in the slightest. The guidance counselor was far from guiding- A direct quote from her to my father, who has military based PTSD is We are not here to help you. and she tried pushing it off as just the depression all teenagers your age go through. The staff is absolutely horrendous in terms of how they treat students.Peggy Paquette, an English teacher, had an extreme bias towards me as she had known my cousin before myself and used this as an excuse to treat me differently than the other students, humiliated me in front of my peers, leading to a world class breakdown in the middle of class. All because I didnt get signatures from my parents.I dont remember her first name, but a math teacher for Remedial Math rarely spoke like a normal human being. It was always yelling with her; every little thing elicited a shout. As someone who has anxiety due to an abusive father (who I got away from) this did not help at all, and I felt very anxious going to her class, going as far as to constantly skip a good majority of it by telling my social studies teacher I felt ill.Onto the actual campus, its horrendous. In my time there, there was a lingering scent of urine in the air, or something burning. I had seen on multiple occasions boys pressing closer to the school walls and urinating on them. The most common used excuse by school officials were This won cleanest school in (a year that is, at this point, obsolete, say 2005).I felt nervous walking alone, despite there being an on-campus officer. As another review pointed out, there WAS a sexual assault case. I can verify this, because I heard girls in the front office talking to the vice principal about it. I feel horrible for listening, but, this further proves the point that this school is far from safe. When I was there, there were no fights or drugs being distributed, but, I would not put it past this school for it to have fallen to that point.Onto the students, they were horribly rude, and in my time there, I had made three friends. Everyone else tended to ignore me, and if you didnt have pre-existing cliques, there was a good chance you werent going to make any friends. If you were like me, stuck in remedial classes for the most part, you had a lot of isolation, and rarely met any new kids who were willing to actually try and be friends. The teachers did nothing to help this, and when it came to bullying, which thankfully I kept clear of, they brushed it off as a minor situation, when it was a major one.In conclusion? Dont send your kids to this school.The staff? Horrendously ignorant- Acted like they knew everything simply because they were the teachers & we were the students. I did not feel comfortable asking most of them questions.The students are often treated poorly if they are not gifted.The campus condition was absolutely horrendous. It was as though the janitors slacked off constantly.I do not suggest this school UNLESS your child is gifted and perfectly stable mentally. This school is not very accommodating for those who drift from the normal line of mental health, and I strongly suggest reconsidering sending your 6th-8th grader(s) elsewhere.

Well im new so idk much bout this school im gonna be here for my 8th grade year thats it lol

I am a former student with many friends that have and do attend Sarasota Middle School. Ive heard many things such as sexual assault occurring and nothing being done and excessive drug abuse. Although Sarasota Middle School comes off as one of Sarasota Countys number 1 middle school, the school has unfair punishment and is completely out of hand. Rumored Heroin incidents, students being expelled and sent to alternative schools like its no big deal, and completely unfair ruling. In the school year of 2014-2015, there have been multiple explosions for drug related incidents and in the past couple years or so theres more than I can count on my toes and fingers. If youre looking for your child to stay out of trouble and not get involved with illegal things such as drugs and experiences like fights happen right in front of their eyes, Sarasota Middle School is not for your child. Good luck.

I have had a great experience there with both my son (finished 6-8) and my daughter (now in 7th). 6th grade was somewhat hard for both socially, but by 7th it all worked out and they loved it. They are both very well prepared. Son went to Pineview, no problem with transition. They were both PGA. My only complaint would be no field trips in a 4 year cumulative. Planned twice for fossil dig in different years but flooding interfered...not their fault! The teachers have been fabulous, including those on electives which are not part of PGA. My daughter loves it and enjoys every moment of the day. They have developed relationships with the teachers, and will cherish them throughout their life....that is a plus to the PGA system, which has a team approach. I think a team approach is a win-win!

I agree that Sarasota Middle can be a great experience if you are on the PGA Gifted teams. If not your child will be treated like a second class citizen. They are segregated from the Gifted Students, Do not participate in Field Trips that the Gifted Students do. Do not participate in appreciation days that the PGA students do. Have assigned tables at lunch not of their choosing while PGA students have complete freedom including the opportunity to sit outside. It is a terrible experience for your child unless they are in the PGA gifted program. The sad part is any student can be labeled Gifted if they pay a private psychiatrist to say they are. This is socioeconomic discrimination in our schools.

Great school, teachers and staff are wonderful!

I do not like this school. I go there and fortunately its my last year there. Im in 8th grade and Ive been going there since I was in 6th. If you are not in the gifted program, dont bother going there. One of the worst schools ever.

Hey i somt know about this place someone tell me about it

My sister went and said that the teachers did not even see kids selling drugs to go her kids

No fun for some kids dont get to be included.

It is trash and nobody likes the school