Sam H. Lawson Middle School

10401 Vista Drive

School District

Cupertino Union
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:20
Type

public

School Map for Cupertino Union School District

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 January 26, 2025

the teachers and the staff at lawson try and do their best. for the past two years, my child's teachers have been different but good quality. the office is usually very nice and helpful. only it is the principal, erin leary that has made my family time at this school very difficult. she does not seem to like talking with parents. she has said and done things to divde the community. unfortunately, the district doesn't seem to know or does not care about what she has said. it is sad for such a good school.
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2024

Once a great school, this school is now on the decline since the last several years. Quality of teaching can be hit or miss, but most teachers are OK. The biggest problem here is the school principal. She became the principal after the awesome Mr. Kit Bragg left Lawson. She seems to be incompetent, and she has zero care or compassion towards students and parents. She treats us badly and unfairly, and she has cultivated a culture of mistrust in the community. But the assistant principal is very caring and compassionate. The PTA is struggling because of lack of funds, and lack of trust, and seems to be on the chopping block if the pattern continues. Children do learn, but the school management seems to be holding them back. The school district also doesn't seem to care from what I am hearing. Parents are either demotivated or apathetic to let things continue the way things are at this school. My kids can't wait to get out of here.
Submitted by other on September 19, 2023

I hit za gwiddy and get all za guls
Submitted by parent on May 05, 2023

Like most CUSD schools, the high rating is mainly because of the caliber of the students at this school and their parents who put them in after-school enrichment programs and competitive activities. The front-desk staff is usually good, but the same cannot be said about the rest of the staff and the principal. Math and science teachers are good in general, and PF and orchestra teachers are excellent. LA & SS teachers are generally bad especially in 7th and 8th grades. The new principal is mostly ineffective. There was a security incident last year, and instead of being transparent about it, she allowed the rumors to spread causing a lot of anxiety among students and parents. A lot of students don't trust her to do the right thing, and some don't even report issues thinking that she won't do anything about it. My kid thinks that she makes a big deal out of little things, and don't act on serious issues. If we report a concern, it often takes multiple follow-ups, and resolution is often inadequate. She is quick to defend teachers, but quick to judge students and parents. This wasn't the case last year when Mr. Bragg was here. Students and parents generally respected him, and my interactions with him have been very good. Unfortunately, he isn't here anymore.
Submitted by student on April 07, 2023

Lawson middle school is a great option for your kids out of all the other schools in the district. The kids here can be pretty brutal sometimes though, speaking from my experience. The standards for grades and test scores are high and many stuck-up kids may make fun of you for getting a low grade on something. I would just like to say grades shouldn't be someone's whole life and it doesn't determine someone's self-worth. Other than that, people are usually really nice and the homework load isn't too heavy (depending on your teacher/subject). The staff is also nice but sometimes they look at you funky LOL. The counselors are so sweet and make sure you feel comfortable in their rooms, so if you're a student struggling with anything reading this, go to your counselors! It is a totally judge-free zone with them. Back to the students though, I would like to mention that if you look different than other people or have a different hair texture or anything like that, you might be singled out sometimes. Recently, kids have slowly been getting meaner in my opinion, and might belittle you, especially because over 80% of the school are similar ethnicities. Again, teachers can handle this but if you are a student experiencing something like this just know you're not alone! Don't let this review scare you into not letting your kid go here though, other schools in the Cupertino district may have more severe bullying. I am just speaking from my personal experience and everyone is different. This school is nice!!
Submitted by student on August 31, 2022

Let me get this out of the way for you speed readers: All elective teachers are fantastic, so don’t worry about that. math and science teachers are a hit or miss sometimes ok/good, sometimes bad. Pf teachers are usually good. LA and SS teachers are usually goodCampus: no designated lunch area, everywhere except for bleachers and blacktop( and obviously the bathrooms )Sometimes trash lying around, not that badBathrooms: Fine from my experience( I have heard some horror stories but they are just stories, take them with a grain of salt )Homework is usually not that bad ( 2 hours max, usually only 45 - 75, or less)Campus is usually only 25-30% bigger than an average elementary school, so medium ish size but I think it’s the perfect size ( not crowded, not too spaced out)No bullying from my experience, just some teasing and slight name calling, nothing bad at all
Submitted by parent on March 14, 2022

I know most people here are worried parents or concerned students and some may think this is spam but I want to say that I am a former student and I can promise you that this is probably the best school you will ever find. They have teachers who will help you out and truly care about you. There is no bullying at all its, 's not your gossip school. It has great opportunities and it has a beautiful campus. They have a soccer field, a track, volley ball courts, batmentant courts, basketball courts, and 4 squares too. They have great food and the teachers are so caring they announcements are better than most and the best part is the students have a lot of say in the school.
Submitted by student on February 09, 2022

Lawson is an amazing middle school. As a current student here I can tell that there is almost never too much homework. Most of the teachers are really nice and teach us really well! There is almost no bullying at all in the school, and all the students are really nice to each other. You can find really good friends at school, and have an amazing middle school experience!!
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2021

We had fantastic teachers all 3 years for all the subjects - math, science, language and social studies. There is homework, but not too much. Teachers are systematic and fair and taught their subjects well. Even without any supplemental academic classes outside of school, kids do well. The peer groups foster learning without pressure. Not much parent involvement is needed as school systems are well set. They even have a career day for kids to learn about different career paths for the future where parents from diverse background talk to the kids about path that brought them to silicon valley.The sports teams are not stellar, but if you are decent at a sport, you will get opportunity to play. Tennis coaching was very good. Soccer was terrible. Transition to online learning was seamless and teachers kept kids motivated. Overall, no complaints and highly recommend this school as my kid had a good experience all three years.
Submitted by parent on April 08, 2021

As a current student of Lawson, I find it to be different from typical schools I've seen because I did feel very included and I felt like everyone there was nice, which they are. School still feels like a small, yet large community and our campus is really nice which will help. About the academics, it definitely isn't easy after 6th grade but most teachers do offer support and want the best for you. I would also say that if it weren't for the pandemic, Lawson has a lot more opportunities that just might not be seen right now will be seen later in. I also really like the fact that there is little to none bullying at our campus (from mine and others' knowledge) but verbal insults being thrown are something we unfortunately can't control and happens everywhere. No school can be 100% perfect. But, I rate this school four stars instead of five because of the reason of toxicity at our campus. A high majority of people at this school is very academically ahead in any way, and this can cause a very pressure-filled and toxic environment for our students. Students here just don't seem to relate to the general population with academics, they tend to have a higher view and have a shame culture on those who aren't there yet, which is okay. The most toxic subject at our school is math, because it is the only one divided into levels. Repeatedly, over and over, I observed students from the higher math class (which was a very large percentage of the population) making fun of the general idea of the lower math class or the fact that some students are there. So many of us haven't opened our eyes yet into what our state really is, and I just wish that we could. It's like we have an elitist view on everything. People have expressed how it was unfathomable if they got a 92% grade in a class for a bit, or that a 96% in a class is bad, which just gets me so enraged because people are actually struggling and your complaining just makes their struggle worse. To summarize this up, for students coming into Lawson, don't be intimidated by the second part of my review or scared from it because even though this can happen, you will feel very included and please always remember you can communicate these things with the administration who will help. In the end, every school has it's flaws and my review will (hopefully) help the solving of it by a bit.
Submitted by parent on February 27, 2021

If I could give 0 stars I would but it will simply not allow me. So here is the 1 star the most I can give. Sub par and complacent teachers who have been teaching for ages tend to stick around not for imparting education but for the retirement benefits. The teachers here don't really care about the academics of the students. It makes sense if your child is going to extra classes and keep this school only for attendance. I would strongly suggest to all parents who are concerned about the academics of their kids to simply avoid LAWSON at all cost. Don't get carried away by the CUSD rating and let your kid go through a harrowing experience. One of the science teachers is known for her rudeness and would grade your child at the same level all through the academic year based on how they got graded in the first test, irrespective of their performance. So if your kid gets a 'C' then that's the final grade of your kid no matter how much improvement the students show through their effort and studies. And this teacher has the audacity to mention that openly through email communication. And then there is this Math teacher whose teaching style includes sending over videos of math lessons and attend the mandatory 15 mins of online class. Middle school is a formative year in every kids life and a stepping stone to high school but these teachers makes the earning experience absolutely appalling and nightmarish. The teachers do more harm by shaming the kids, venting to their parents and bringing their moral down. This came out in open due to the distance learning. The teachers don't respect the students and the students are turning equally rude. If you try to voice your concern, the teachers take no onus upon themselves, tend to defend their style of teaching and start blaming the kids. My kid was an A grader but a combination of pandemic forcing to go into distance learning mode and lack of teaching skills of these teachers t Lawson made my kid slip to grade 'C'. My kid is losing her sleep and peace of mind in trying to figure out how to regain the grades but I'm sure to no avail, thanks to these teachers.Having said that, there are some good teachers as well.
Submitted by other on March 02, 2020

my overall experience here was meh, the main problem was that the teachers were a hit or miss, and most of the time it's the latter. i attended sixth and seventh grade here and there were only 2 or 3 teachers out of my entire experience who were effective educators. an alarming amount of teachers often aren't helpful/don't teach. there were quite a few cases where i felt like i learned nothing in a class, which is definitely not ok. one male core teacher in particular is known to poorly manage lessons and the classroom, and would put no more than 5 assignments in the grade book per trimester. of course average teachers are expected when attending a public school, and a lot of the knowledge students have come from after-school/extra classes outside of school. lawson's, and, more or less, the cupertino school district's rating and test scores are carried by the strong asian population who send their students to extracurricular classes for math and other subjects. if not for these extra classes, the high test scores that cusd is known for would not exist.overall your experience at lawson will fluctuate depending on who your teachers are. if your standards can't be met by the mediocre faculty at lawson, i'd suggest going to a private school in the area.
Submitted by parent on December 17, 2019

Lawson 2019 CAASPP grade 7 english average score is 2645 (standard met) , math score is 2690 (standard exceeded). This reflects the mixed bags of Lawson teachers. My child had excellent Math and Science teachers. But English teacher Entous made grade 6 students write 40,000 words for the year, resulting in 0% writing improvement. Maybe a great way for the teacher to avoid doing grading (used word counting software to make sure enough words written, nothing on writing style or content).
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2019

Great learning and school community experience for our child
Submitted by parent on August 12, 2019

Lawson middle school is preparing both my children with the tools to face upcoming years with confidence and pride. They are truly happy to belong and both my husband and I rate this school at the highest ranking a school could possibly receive.
Submitted by parent on June 26, 2019

I strongly disliked Lawson because of its ineffective PTSA and admin leadership. Since kids who go here are not white, it is not important for them to care.
Submitted by other on May 21, 2018

I strongly disliked Lawson, Miller is much better.
Submitted by student on April 07, 2017

This school is cool but something's... like taking about bullying and that stuff doesn't become as important as elementary school
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2016

A parent with a 6th grade boy: Kinda loading homework on a daily basis, teachers use/ provide lots of variety of online learning tool/ app., however, have a feeling they outsource those "fancy" tools to reduce their own duties. My kid loves this school, though...
Submitted by other on January 20, 2015

I'm not sure why so many people write about the cons of Lawson, which are all NOT TRUE. Lawson is a great school, and has an exceptional Special Ed program. I have seen how well all students are taken care of. The teachers are all great, and the electives they have are fun. The score is high, not beacuse we are all Asian, but because the teachers teach very well. Lawson is very friendly, and an exceptional school. There is actually very few events of bullying, and we have great countless that resolve any problems. The school is advanced in technology, having all students using iPads, which are much more conveniant. Lawson is located a few blocks away from the Cupertino Library which is convientiant, and chosen as a place of homework after school. All in all, Lawson is a, outstanding school.