Fruit Cove Middle School

FCMS does many MANY things well, and some things not so well. Boardering Jacksonville, Fl., the education academically speaking is far superior then the City of Jacksonville. Academically, FCMS is 20th in the state, and 1st in St John's County, among middle schools, which is the number one school district in the state of Florida, several years running now. Maintaining this accolade may be difficult however, as the housing market has, and continues to grow exponentially.

Pay attention to the school's demographics which should indicate that although primarily white, it is racially diverse, which Is what we wanted for our daughter, as we wanted her exposed to the world. Having said that, the demographics will also reveal an extremely low African American integration. Uncertain if the issue is finance or simply choice, but suspect it is more of the first that influences choice. The same applies to the Educators. The teachers are predominantly white, with a sprinkling of other races. I am not certain if there are any African American teachers. At least I have yet to see any. Both African American student & teacher proportions have to be considerably lower than the national average, for certain.

The theme in every one of the St John's schools is 'Character Counts', emphasized by Seven Pillars, each highlighting a different character achievement. It is more esthetics than functional application, as there is not enough legitimate input or faculty involvement for these principals to be effective. Bullying is an ongoing problem despite the camouflage window dressing. Most bullying goes unreported, because senior faculty brings each issue out in the open, squashing most reported incidents, but at the price of socially isolating victims from there peers. The District has two obvious goals: aggressively address and eliminate reported bullying in their schools fend off potential lawsuits period. Most parents do not report such issues, hoping that the issues will fade away, rather than setting up their children as a pariah throughout their remaining school years.

If your goal is to provide your child with the best education possible, provide them wth the tools to succeed, hoping to get them into a major university, and begin to paint their future resume, this is not only possible, it is realistic. There is a price however. The price of excellence, getting good grades in a top rated school is demanding. The stress level is beyond what it should be for 12, 13, & 14 year olds.

This past week, my daughter's Civic's' teacher sent out a 6-7 paragraph email to all the parents in preparation of their semester exams. It cited 5 Court Cases & the numerous amendments that have to be studied. Her preparation is more conducive to that of a first year law student. Honestly. I will have to accept the fact that my daughter will have her first 'B' of the school year. She has worked her butt off, I've come down hard on her, and must tell her to back off, and explain why. She is hitting 'A's in her remaining subjects, but they have lowered in lieu of dedicating so much time to Civics. I would like to see her excell in Math and Science. It is her future. I constantly have to weigh the price it may be paying on my daughter.

Two months back, a 15yr old boy in our district committed suicide. How can a child be so out of proportion, as to go against his strongest instinct, self-preservation?
My wife and I had a sit-down with our daughter and talked about it at great length.

The stress on parents and teachers is incredible sometimes. Unless you are deeply involved with your child, the outcome may be contrary to what you are hoping for.

I believe I would have given FCMS another half star, had it been optional, but for the most part, the assessment I believe to be accurate.