Research Cooper Middle School public Schools in Douglasville, Georgia

“I have had 2 children attend Cooper. I have found that the administration is lacking and this has been the same with both principals. Most of the teachers tend to be uninvolved and when certain occasions have arisen, meeting with the principal or other administration have been very difficult. No one is available when you need them. Voicemails go unanswered. Only a small handfull of teachers use the blogs and keeping up with IParent is inconsistent. Communication with teachers is mostly parent-initiated. I feel this school could improve on many fronts. We have been very unhappy. One good thing I can comment on is the music program is very good.”

“My son has attended Copper for two yrs (6-8), the teachers in his sections for the past two yrs have been helpful toward his education and communicate whenever there is a concern or problem. There are monthly meetings at the school to keep parents educated about the curriculum and tools they can use to help their son/daughter. There are fights at Copper just like with any school but my son doesn't get involved. In the future I wish to see more extracurricular activities. Remember, with any school it takes parent involvement to make it the best it can be.”

“BTW, The school hadn't passed AYP a few times. I know at least two in the last three/four years were due to low testing results in Special Education. The school passed in flying colors in all other areas. In fact reading and math scores have been on the rise since the new leadership. The Lesson: look at the whole, not the parts before you assume!”

“The fresh, new principal that the Feb. 16, 2008 refers to knows little about what goes on in Cooper. The principal before her held a docorate and must have kept up with teachers such as Feb. 16th post who was not doing her job. The disipline there is not applied evenly. The administration and staff are either catering to or are afraid of some of the students and their parents. The teachrs who were there 6 years ago were good, but the newer ones are pathetic. This school has not passed AYP since the fresh, new principal has been in charge. I could say a lot more, but will not. I recommend that you send your child somewhere else. I am happy that mine will no longer have to attend Cooper.”

“I am a parent of a rising 7th grader at Cooper Middle School. I am very pleased with the school and with the staff. I also volunteer weekly in the front office. I think that the school would be a better place if there was more parent involement. We tend to have a lot of parents who think that the teachers are there to raise their kids along with teach them. My son is doing better in his classes thanks to the communication that I have with the teachers. My son is in a program call project hope which is a looping program where he will have the same teachers throughout middle school, which is something that I am loving.”

“I am in my fifth year of employment at CMS. While it is true the first two years were under a rigid and often times unforgiving administration, a fresh, new principal brought a much needed sense of community to both students and staff in 2005. I am in a position to observe students daily and the amount of progress I have seen in areas such as scholarship, morale, and determination to succeed from students, teachers and parents has increased two fold. Administrators, teachers and support staff constantly collaberate to improve instruction with a sincere desire to offer each student an opportunity to be his/her best regardless of circumstance. I have witnessed a complete shift in focus from one boarding on superficial imagery to a sincere and dedicated loyalty to educate our children - our future.”

“We are now moving, I have to take my child out of Cooper Middle, But while my child attended the school, she was very happy and I have never had any problems from any one there, everyone has always been very helpful”

“I think that Cooper is a great school. The teachers and administration work very hard but their efforts seem to go unnoticed.”

“My son attended Cooper Middle School for the 06-'07 school year. It was the worst experience I can think of. They have issues with gangs, as well as other important situations that they refuse to deal with it. The teachers are just ok, until you get one who only follows the 'book given by Cobb county' to teach our children. Then I would have to say the teachers are not teachers, they are machines that only know 1 program and are afraid to do what is necessary to help children succed. They refuse to go outside the box, and do any thing extra that might help our children if it is needed. I would not recommend this school!”

“I am not very impressed with Cooper Middle School. Some of the teachers are very condescending and the adminstration runs the place with a prison mentality. Children get in trouble for the least little thing. It seems that the adminstration singles out certain children for continued punishment. I think that the administration feels that if they are harder on children, the children will 'fall in line'. I guess they do not realize that the damage that they inflict skewers the relationship between the child and the school. Teachers and administrators oftentimes have a confrontational stance that is totally uncalled for. They are supposed to be professionals, they should act like it.”

“i think cooper is not a great school. Some of the teachers are very good. But just a couple teachers ruin it for the rest of them. Also they worry more about the rules then they do teaching. Also cooper is very sad for not havin any sport activitys. Sure they have a step team but what happens to the people that dont make it. What do they get to do? Also they have those morning intamerials but not many kids parents can take them in the morning.”

“My son is currently at student at Cooper Middle School and I am very glad this will be his last year. The teaching and adminstrative staff are horrible. I don't feel my son is getting what he needs in order to be successful in high school. There is definite favoritism and students are often labeled.”

“I used to go to Cooper Middle School. It wasn't a good learning envirorment. There was always over 30 students in each classroom. The teachers wouldn't tell very much about the assignments. The property is damaged and we didn't have much freedom.”

“My daughter atends Cooper Middle school. At the end of the school year I asked her to give me her thoughts about the school, because she transferd from another school. She likes the school. All her teachers are wonderful. If there is a problem they call me at home or at work. She made 4 A's, and 4B's. As parent we need to stop blaming the teachers, and start playing an active role in our childrens education. It is not the teachers fault that a student did not complete their homework, or a student is behaving badly in school. I have told my daughter, and will contiue telling her about the importance of education. I make sure that sure completes all her homework when she gets home from school. No tv time until the work is completed .She also knows that school is for education not socializing .”

“I think that this school rocks. The teachers are very supportive and helpful. Some of the students that go here just get complain about everything, when they have everything that they need to succesful. So, they get their parents to come and complain about it, when really there is really no problem. There are a lot of academic programs at this school, mainly clubs. Like the chess club, the jr. Beta club, and student form. There are no sports, art, or music extracurricular activities. The parents in this school are very supportive and helpful, just like the teachers at this school.”

“My daughter is finishing the eighth grade and I have mixed reviews on Cooper. There is obviously an administration indifference. Communication with teachers is always parent initiated. I am an involved parent, however I sometimes do not find out about issues with my child until reporting time. The previous year my daughter attended Palmer Middle located in the upper part of the county. The schools are night and day for parent involvement, teacher effectiveness, administration apathy and student cooperation.”

“I am a parent at Cooper Middles School and the treatment there is unexceptable from the faculty and staff. The students get treated very unfairly. The prinicpal is the hardest person to get in touch with no matter what the circumstance, she is not personable at all to the students or the parents. Most of the teachers there are new to the field, therefore unqualified and the statistics back up my opinion. It seems that there are lots of employees that are just there for a pay check not for the sake of educating the children.”

“My son is a 6th grader at Cooper Middle School. I am very unhappy about what is and is not going on during the school day. I'm not sure that he is learning what he needs to because of his daily comments concerning fights, disruptive, and disrespectful students. His teachers seem to be trying, but they don't have much support from administration. I will do all that I can to get him into a real school that takes education and safety seriously.”

“My son is currently attending Cooper and he is our second one to do so. Except for a few of the teachers, I am very unhappy with this school. The administration is lack-luster, all fluff. The teachers have a hard time keeping control so my son has trouble learning. The school does not have an open door policy, and getting a conference is like pulling teeth. My child gets almost no homework, and I question what he is learning. The PTSA has a very hard time getting support from the parents.I am seriously concidering other options for my son next year.”

“Hey, i'm not a parent but a student. I think Cooper's fun and crunk! It's really fun except for a few teachers and people. The only thing i dont like is that there are too many cameras!”