I've had 2 children complete the elementary, junior high and high school classes in Middletown Unified School District.
As with the majority of families living here, we were transplants. I was a little concerned about moving to a small town, but the scholastic experience has been good. I'll break down the experience into three categories: Sports, Academics, and social
Sports: This is a major focus for the school district. #1 is football. Then basketball, baseball and all the rest. If you want your child to play (key word is "play", everyone makes the team who can last through pre-season practice) on the high school football team get them started in the recreational leagues ASAP (4th grade?). On Fridays in the fall, nothing says "I'm popular" like wearing a football jersey or a cheerleader or a girlfriend of a football player wearing his jersey. Lately, soccer and track have become more available. There is an excellent youth soccer program, but the best athletes head for the football field once they get to high school.
Junior high is when they start cutting kids from the sports teams. It can be rough. Up until then, you pay and you're kid is on the team.
Academics: The percentage of English speaking students is very high. It offers the teachers an opportunity to teach at a higher level. There are still a number of students who are financially underprivileged and who have to worry more about eating rather than their homework which is unfortunate.
Academics are good at all levels in the school district. I would say they are more of a focus in the elementary and junior high school. My kids attended Coyote valley. Excellent teachers. There is a feeling of camaraderie and competition between them which ends up benefiting the kids. Next is junior high school. All three elementary schools feed into one junior high. My kids found the 7th grade to be more challenging then 8th grade. All students have the same teacher for English, math and science. My kids enjoyed the science program. Social science was the weakest.
High school was pretty challenging. As with all things you get out of it what you put into it. Most teachers offer a variety of ways to achieve an "A" including opportunities to turn in homework late and minimizing the weight of a final exam. There are a few AP courses offered. It is disappointing that most kids who take the AP course cannot pass the AP exam that would alleviate them from repeating the class in college (which, in my opinion, is the whole point of taking an AP course). A wide variety of electives are offered.
Again, my kids really enjoyed the science program. The school was recently remodeled and the science classrooms/labs are excellent. The math program is pretty weak. Math scores seem to peak around the 5th grade and go down from there.
Being in the country, the high school offers agricultural and 4H opportunities. There are some excellent teachers in this area who are passionate about educating our youth. Kids can start out in 4H at a very young age. It's an excellent way for them to learn responsibility, leadership and business. The first time I heard my kids talk about running a mile and watching a cow get slaughtered was a little unnerving, but you get use to it. We all need to know where our food comes from!
Social: I think this is where a small town can really benefit a child. Most kids know each other their whole lives. If you're a little different you're generally more accepted. I did not see the extremes that I saw in our previous town. Kids like to be noticed and they don't have to go way overboard to do it here. Little changes get noticed and that seems to be enough to satisfy their needs. The town has a great sense of itself. There is great pride in the schools. Especially high school. Homecoming week is a BIG deal and something the whole town shares in (at least it feels that way at the football game). It is old fashioned and you always leave with a good feeling.
Bullying is dealt with by the vice principal in each school. There are some that tolerate it more than others. Coyote Valley was more tolerant of it than I wished they were. I understand that principal has retired so maybe things will improve for the ones being bullied. The kids can belong to a number of cliques including nerds, jocks, smokers, emo, or agricultural/4H. Most kids belong to more than one.
One area they lag behind is using computers, but that's improving. They're in the process of improving the school district through a $15M bond measure. It's really looking nice. That combined with the teachers who really seem to care and the demographic really make this a good place for your kids to attend. There is a push to get kids from these small towns into the UC system. I think it's easier to get into a UC from here than a larger school district.
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