Dickerson Middle School

Learning environment is good, mostly because the kids are from motivated families. The administrative staff is pretty terrible. Non-responsive to requests for information or meetings. There is bullying by the disciplinary staff, who should instead be preventing bullying. Not much nurturing. They give the kids 30 minutes of recess once a week, calling it fresh air Friday. Lunches last 25 minutes, after which back to class. Somewhat of a concentration camp atmosphere. Our kids more or less suffered through it, getting good grades and a decent education. Nice kids and parents, and most of the teachers were good educators. Would agree with other parent that the method of education was plentiful homework rather than inspiring, creative teaching. Probably lowering my real estate value by submitting this, but it needs to be said.

Great School ,great Principal's for all the grades , fabulous office staff and hardworking (Ms Green) teachers .No words to thank them . Kids

Old rednecks who should be long retired are still teaching here! Their only job is to demotivate kids and pass on negative energy! Thanks to one oldie, my daughter has come to hate Math. There is no concept of partial grade with this teacher. Even for technically correct answers, she will give 0 points because it is not in the correct format! She got 94% in high school ACT Math in 7th grade and got a state level duke tip award, but she still can't get "A" in Math in Dickerson!! There is another nut case who will punish kids for not using the correct font. They justify all this saying that the real world is harsh. Real world is not half as bad as what they make it seem!! Schools like Dodgen have younger teachers who are inspiring the kids. No wonder they won the science olympiad this year! It is about time that the oldies retired to make way for a more positive environment for the kids! The principal Dr. Brink is good, but unless she does something about these teachers, the school will continue to be a dump that the kids hate!

I am a parent of two "honor role" children who have attended Dickerson. They say it's difficult to argue with success but if we had it to do over again, we would not send our children to this school. In my opinion, the majority of teachers at Dickerson "slam" the kids with homework and projects and do very little active or effective teaching. It's up to the parents and tutors to support the extreme level of work. The Dickerson administration tends to employ the "guilty until proven innocent" doctrine versus using most minor altercations as teachable moments. While I do believe this school prepares kids well for the work load in high school, Dickerson fails to teach it's children critical thinking and common sense. There are some outstanding teachers at Dickerson but they are heavily outnumbered by complacent teachers and administrators who can "take it easy" because the parents are carrying their load.

I have one daughter who completed 3 years at Dickerson Middle school and is now at Walton as a freshman. Dickerson prepared her for high school in every way. I am very impressed with the level of effort the teachers go thru to ensure the parents are part of the process. I feel this was a positive and inviting environment for kids and parents. In general Middle school is a challenging time. Alot of social issues are occurring while academically things are enhancing at the same time and children are being expected to be very organized. I think Dickerson does a good job of helping kids with this transition.

This school is great and all for reveiws but most don't reveal the cold truth. If your the new kid, you get pounded on sometimes if you went to a lower level acedemic school, the other kids who have been going to cobb elementary schools for a long time and are prepared for this school are good to go. Though, I came from a lower acedemic school into 6th grade and it was very very hard for me. I had strait A's in my other school, but when I came in for the first quarter my grades instantly started going down,because the school is so hard and I started worrying. The teachers can just be plain out rude (only some). IN FACT, this week a teacher got fired for being racist to all the black kids she had, and your would not beleive how many students come for help sessions. If you come to this school be prepared for a tutor and waking up at 7 o'clock, getting home at somewhere around 5pm and staying up until atleast 10pm.

Something to be aware of: There's a somewhat newer principal here that is apparently not sitting well with the seasoned teachers. This used to be the school that teachers dreamed to be a part of, but there are 8+ leaving at the end of this year. That doesn't bode well.

This school is excellent. I just left and moved into a private college-prep school and Dickerson more than prepared me. After coming from public school, most kids have trouble at the school, but the classes are quite easy for me and I know a lot of it already. Though, I thought Dickerson was a hard school, I am definitively thankful for the way it prepared me to be successful in life!

I'm not sure if things have changed since I was a student at this school, but I want to share my story. This school had VERY high rankings and a great reputation when my brother and I attended. The classes were good, and the teaching was good. The reason for the Poor rating I give this school was the terrible bully problem it had. I was the "new kid" on the block, and the students teased me to no end for anything and everything. The teachers turned their heads and pretended not to see. The same happened to my brother, who was in an accident and had to use a cane to walk. One day, one of the bully kids kicked the cane out from under my brother, causing him to fall. This was in full view of a teacher, who turned her head and ignored it happened. One option in most schools would be to go to the Guidance counselor, but at this school the Guidance counselor was just as bad as the teachers - completely unwilling to address the bully problem. I can't tell you how many times other kids spit on me, threatened me, or made fun of me. This is NOT acceptable behavior. The kids in this school are largely spoiled brats and the teachers turn a blind eye every chance they get. If you're considering sending your child here, I advise looking for other options. If no options are available, at least have a frank conversation with your child on a regular basis to find out whether or not he/she is being bullied. If they are, I recommend threatening legal action against the teachers who ignore this atrocity.

Dickerson is a fantastic school that stresses performance and fun. I have a special needs daughter AND a son who (on the other end of the spectrum) is taking all AP level advanced classes. Dickerson MS handles both extremes very well. If your child wants to learn and go to the best schools in GA, then Dickerson MS and Walton HS is the district to be. If you child is a slacker in school, you best look for a house in another school district.