Aberdeen Middle School

111 Mount Royal Avenue

School District

Harford County Public Schools
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Harford County Public Schools

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on November 14, 2024

Recently moved and had my husband go to the school today to turn in proof of residency and get the bus schedule and get my 7th grader assigned to be a bus rider. The office never notified teachers/or my kid what bus they would be getting on today to go home so my kid sat outside in 47° weather waiting for an HOUR before he called me from the office. My kid does not take his phone to school but will from now on. So far this administration has been a joke. We have been to 5 different schools from Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, to here and this has been the absolute worst school so far and the most negative experience for my child and myself. These are children that you vow to teach and keep safe. Do better….
Submitted by parent on January 29, 2024

I wish the county would pour funding into this school and turn it into a more rehabilitative environment - something like High Roads. Instead of SOAR, I think SOS (seek other school) works better.
Submitted by other on January 26, 2024

We need a “I Survived” book for this schoolI survived Aberdeen Middle and all I got was this lousy color-changing cup
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2023

My current 8th grader had a great experience at this school! I think, for any situation, it really just depends on your child and how involved the parents are. He did really well right after covid and became a member of the NJHS. The school it’s self is old and could use an update, but that doesn’t affect what’s important…the education.
Submitted by other on June 04, 2023

Nah nah nah nah nah. I hate this school so musco like nah nah nah.
Submitted by parent on December 24, 2022

A bunch of kids were sent away in ambulances in one quarter.
Submitted by student on November 09, 2020

I am a current 8th grader at this school and from my past 3 years of experience I have loved being a student in this school (I am not going to count distance learning). My teachers are and have been fun, effective, and generally care about what they are teaching. I am not going to sugar coat the fact that there is a lot of cussing and teasing and fights, but you're going to get that in any school you go to. I am a straight A student and I really love this school a lot. I liked the good news assemblies a lot and I've never really had too much homework. So from my experience, AMS is an amazing school and I'll miss it next year when I go on to high school.
Submitted by parent on March 06, 2020

My child has told me there were 5 to 4 different fight during the first month of school. My students has the worst experience in gym class. In the locker room my child has told that he has fear of changing to gym clothes because of students slapping his bare skin or hitting him and there is always some type of liquid being thrown around in the locker rooms. My child also got his shorts stolen and i notified the school they replied with this "your going to have to buy some new ones" I was very angered with this reply, expecting some type of help from this school was a very big expectation and was very much expected from this school no help whatsoever. Food is at times raw and terrible my child has found the chicken served at this school red on the inside and raw. I give this TERRIBLE school or death trap and I rate it a 1.
Submitted by student on February 16, 2019

For the most part my experience is pretty good. The majority of the students are very nice and for the most part pretty respectful. The teachers try hard to make their lessons fun and enjoyable for all of their classes. The principal Mrs. Dykes is very kind and the most amazing principal yet.
Submitted by parent on April 24, 2017

Both of my kids go to AMS. I have had a wonderful experience with the teachers, counselors, vice principals and principal. The current Principal Ms. Webb and her team go above and beyond to address issues brought to their attention. Most of the teachers are committed to helping their students succeed and are willing to give free tutoring before or after school when needed by the student. The only problem is as a parent your have to keep up with your kids edline grades, teachers loose their papers or fail to input their grades correctly. You have to keep submitting their marked papers or ask questions. Otherwise it is a great school, if your kid comes willing, respectful and ready to learn.
Submitted by other on March 07, 2017

My children are severely disabled. They do not have enough special programs to meet the needs of disabled children. They do have life skills which is for children who are not on a diploma track. Which I have 1 that is certificate only. But my other child that is borderline, has no real service or support. Nursing staff thinks they know more about my children's medical needs and care than I do. When you have doctors that tell you that they don't know how to treat your child and they have to defer how to treat to you, then it's very aggravating when the nurse becomes an expert because she Google searches it. Sorry, but I live this day in and day out. Google does not an expert make. We've had issues with bullying. Not just from students, but teachers and teacher's aides. I am moving from this district in a couple weeks and it can't happen soon enough.
Submitted by parent on March 20, 2015

The school is great for..I guess you could call them "achievers", um, but I've seen some students who need help become forgotten about.
Submitted by other on January 12, 2015

Great school, they're always there for us students!! I'm not sure why they say ALL of the kids are bad, because only 1/4 of us are actually getting in trouble.
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2014

Sadly, I tried to give this school the benefit of the doubt, attempting to reach out the administration and teachers with NO success. There is ongoing bullying, teachers that do not care, false reporting of grades and absents, disruptive kids in class and to top it off, administration acts like the child is not being honest. The previous review is very accurate. My child is also in the 6th grade, out of control students, cussing, hitting & fighting. Horrible. Disgusted.
Submitted by parent on November 06, 2014

If I could give this school zero stars I would. Please avoid moving to this area, especially if your child is gifted. There is no gifted program, instead they moved my child into a higher math class...that is not the same. Watch the online grading system, I caught two teachers giving my child a failing grade because she was out at musical instrument practice. Communication is a nightmare because their website is terrible and finding a teacher's email address is only if they've entered it into the system. So far this year, there's been a major fight and a lock down scare. Private schools are pricey here and competitive which is why I'm taking my child back to our home state for school. This school is a dumping ground for new teachers to get their credit and then move on to a higher paying school district. It's one of the worst, unorganized, and unsafe school districts. My 6th grader says the kids "curse like sailors" and that she has two disruptive kids that are in ALL her classes. Could you concentrate if someone was banging on a desk all day? Thanks, BRAC commission for sending jobs down here. You don't know or care how many families you have broken up because of this situation.
Submitted by parent on August 14, 2014

There are a number of things this school is lacking, but the most important issue they have is a lack of safety. The school buses actually drove through running water during a flood. Rather than taking into account the safety of the students and returning to the school for release, they endangered them. They did used to have some great teachers, but it seems they all leave to go work at other schools in the area once they have "done their time". Unfortunately, no information flow is the norm of AMS and I am thankful that we no longer have to subject our kids to subpar education, as they are both finally in high school elsewhere. If you are considering moving to Aberdeen with children, reconsider -- Havre de Grace, Bel Air, Churchville all have better schools. Aberdeen High School is excellent but the chances of getting into a magnet program in your town is slim if you suffer through the other lower level schools.
Submitted by parent on August 14, 2014

Avoid sending your children here at all costs. The administration is wholly incompetent in both running the school and communicating with parents. Teachers are underqualified and generally incapable speaking or writing in complete sentences and do the very bare minimum to keep their jobs. Maryland judges schools with standardized testing. This school teaches to the test and no more. There will never, ever be a chance your child will have the opportunity to learn anything beyond the scope of the MSA, which is quite rudimentary. Should your child fail to conform to AMS's lowest-common-denominator style, he will be bullied by both teachers and students. If he attempts to stand up for himself, he will be punished. If he attempts to advocate for himself, he will be punished. If you attempt to advocate for your child, you will be met with close-minded confrontation. The teachers and staff at AMS assume that their students and parents are too poor and stupid to hold them accountable. Read the reviews written by students; that's the product this school puts out. If you find it acceptable that an eighth-grader can't spell or compose a sentence, by all means send your child to AMS.
Submitted by parent on August 14, 2014

Aberdeen Middle School is ok, at best -- and only if you have a child that absolutely conforms to the state minimum requirements. If you happen to have a "gifted" child, you get the run around, you have to fight to get classes and most of the teachers seem to be intimidated by students who excel. It is unfortunate that logical conversations with a teacher is so difficult to come by in the school -- saying "like" every other word makes students, and parents, think you are a bit uneducated. Simple sentence construction is lacking. We have had a student in this school for the past 2 years, and would give anything to get him out of here. We feel completely helpless about this situation. The bullying of kids by teachers is unacceptable and the "mean girl" attitudes of the 7th grade teachers toward the parents is disgusting. As you can see from many of the student's comments, misspellings and lack of grammatical "know how" is apparent. All in all, being told that the reason there are no enrichment services is due to the "socioeconomic" condition of the area, it wrong! Being poor or working class DOES NOT mean you are not intelligent. This school is a total FAIL! #smhschoolfails
Submitted by other on August 01, 2012

i love this school great teacher and students and i went to this school i will miss it so mucso have fun in this school
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2012

My daughter went here for 3 years and now we are preparing for our son to enter 6th grade. I have no hesitation in sending my son after the experience we had with our daughter. The teachers are terrific and many have taken the time to go above and beyond for their students by volunteering for additional training as well as taking the time to go the extra mile time wise for their students.