Hamilton Middle School

8600 East Dartmouth Avenue

School District

Denver County 1
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Denver County 1 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 24, 2025

The school year started off great but the new principle has no clue what they are doing. This school was on the way up with the former principle but she moved on. We heard from other families that this school was not very good but we decided to give it a try and now we are sorry we did. The front office staff is rude and not very organized. Avoid this school at all costs.
Submitted by parent on December 18, 2024

This school has presented nothing but challenges. In 6th grade my son had no SPED teacher the entire year and his IEP was not met. We pulled him from the school at the end of the year because one teacher in particular treated my son as a criminal and would kick him out of class almost daily for the mildest of behavioral issues. I sent him to a different school for 7th grade, but relocated back to Hamilton's neighborhood before the start of 8th grade. I enrolled my son again with a promise from the school that things had changed. They have not.This school does not communicate with parents at all. Discipline is handled internally with no communication sent to parents. Bullying is extremely prominent with nothing being done about it. My son doesn't feel safe at school and constantly tells me about threats being made to him and his friends and the school does absolutely nothing about it. In an age where teenage suicide caused by bullying is extremely prevalent within our society every school should take threats and bullying seriously, but Hamilton looks the other way. My son has had to defend himself and his friends numerous times and has been punished for it. DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE. LET THEIR ENROLLMENT PLUMMET AND ALLOW THIS SCHOOL TO BE SHUT DOWN. It's a black eye on DPS.
Submitted by parent on December 18, 2024

This school has presented nothing but challenges. In 6th grade my son had no SPED teacher the entire year and his IEP was not met. We pulled him from the school at the end of the year because one teacher in particular treated my son as a criminal and would kick him out of class almost daily for the mildest of behavioral issues. I sent him to a different school for 7th grade, but relocated back to Hamilton's neighborhood before the start of 8th grade. I enrolled my son again with a promise from the school that things had changed. They have not.This school does not communicate with parents at all. Discipline is handled internally with no communication sent to parents. Bullying is extremely prominent with nothing being done about it. My son doesn't feel safe at school and constantly tells me about threats being made to him and his friends and the school does absolutely nothing about it. In an age where teenage suicide caused by bullying is extremely prevalent within our society every school should take threats and bullying seriously, but Hamilton looks the other way. My son has had to defend himself and his friends numerous times and has been punished for it. DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE. LET THEIR ENROLLMENT PLUMMET AND ALLOW THIS SCHOOL TO BE SHUT DOWN. It's a black eye on DPS.
Submitted by parent on November 20, 2024

Not that great. Some of the people in charge don't take bullying seriously, and are bystanders when there's bullying in front of them.Also, it seems whenever one kid does something, all grades get a punishment. I think this is unfair. Overall not that good.
Submitted by parent on September 23, 2024

My daughter recently started school and it has been one of the worst experiences I’ve had. Since day one the school has a system issue with enrollment so the online enrollment never got submitted on their end. Many parents had to go in person the first day of school to do the paper enrollment. The office staff is not helpful at all and they are extremely rude. I wouldn’t recommend this school simply because it seems very unorganized.
Submitted by parent on October 23, 2023

I heard rumors from other parents before enrolling my child; about how bad the school has become. For 6th grade; I decided to take a tour and personally meet with the principle. I fell in love with the principle and her vision for the school. Sadly it was all a farce; First day of school; our child had to write their pronouns down on a name card and carry it to every class. That I didn't have an issue with; but when a teacher had each student in class, stand and tell everyone their sexuality is NOT OK. This is a place of education; someone being straight, gay, bi etc. shouldn't be disgusted in class. DONT put students in the spotlight when it comes to this. First week of school we were told students would be let out by the Holm elementary exit and parents pick up there (map given).. well the kids were getting let out on the total opposite side of the school. Called multiple times to get clarification on pick up location; I was given multiple responses and multiple locations. This was brought up to the principle by numerous parents at the first back to school night meeting and principle PROMISED it would be addressed and teachers would be informed of the correct locations for each grade level. NOPE; still a complete mess at pick up. On back to school night; the social studies teacher emphasized she will not be teaching WHITE history. Shocked by this, I asked her to clarify. She said it was American history she wasn't going to teach. WHY NOT SAY AMERICAN HISTORY; NOT WHITE HISTORY. Completely inappropriate. Disgusting! My child is in IEP and needs special learning requirements that is UNDER CONTRACT with the state. Part of the requirements were made; but unbeknownst to me, their IEP teacher had left. For over 1/2 the year there was NO HELP. Now starting 7th grade; we were hoping for a better year, new teachers etc. NOPE; still completely disappointing. Disappointing to the point where we had to change schools. Students are rarely allowed to use the bathroom. HORRIBLE considering this is when girls start their mensural cycle. Shouldn't have to get a doctors note to be allowed to use the bathroom. Denver Public schools really needs to get police back in the building. School fights happen multiple times a week; and the security guard cant and don't do anything. KEEP LOOKING FOR NEW SCHOOL, KEEP YOUR KIDS SAFE.
Submitted by student on January 06, 2023

DO NOT!!!! Send your kids to this school it is horrible, lack of discipline, and lack of responsibility
Submitted by parent on January 05, 2023

Horrible school! Can’t believe it’s allowed to operate in Colorado. Unsafe and absolutely no teaching or learning occurring at this school. It’s basically a prison with prison guards. If you have any other options do not send your child to this school.
Submitted by parent on August 25, 2022

this is this a good school and they make sure the is safe they jugde anonny one and they are nice people
Submitted by parent on March 16, 2022

Overall we have good experiences at Hamilton in the last three years. There are ample programs available to students who want to participate such as several sports, theatre, band, STEM and honors classes. There are also school trips when health policies allow. Dealing with Covid put a halt to many of the programs last year but this year, and the previous year, my son has had a ton of fun playing floor hockey, baseball and attending the fall back-to- school fest and school dances. He has told me there are kids who "Don't seem to have a very good situation at home". He says they sometimes fight, throw trash on the floor or break things. I think my son is learning a lot about what people face and they handle it. He has matured a lot socially and emotionally at Hamilton, learning when to engage with others and when to walk away or ignore them. As far a academics he was in honors English that had a wonderful teacher and he had an incredible math teacher. Because it is an IB school he has to take foreign language for electives and he's hated that. He'd rather take gym each semester. They have advisory teachers they meet in a class with each day. They have called us at the start of each semester to check in. He loves his advisory teacher this year. It's like homeroom where they can catch up on homework, socialize and do some Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs. The school has a state of the art brand new STEM lab but my kid isn't too into STEM. Overall, if your child mostly gets along with others and likes to participate in extra activities they can have a good middle school experience here. There's lots of ways for parents to be involved on PTSA or by volunteering at the school. I highly recommend getting involved so you get a sense of how the school is being run and so that you can help make the school what you and your students want it to be.
Submitted by parent on September 22, 2020

I believe Hamilton is the best middle school in Denver. Why? Because we are a true neighborhood school that values academics with diversity. Our principal Dr. Sawyer is passionate about our students and our school. The teachers are so awesome and love our students. Hamilton is the kind of school I wish all students could experience!
Submitted by student on July 11, 2020

I'm gonna be honest here. The school's great, it's big enough for everybody and it's easy to get used to. The people, however, are horrible. Not all of them, just 5/8 of them. Certain girls who are known to be popular have dated almost half of the boys in their grade, they wear clothes that are inappropriate for school, they talk behind people's backs, and they do not care about their grades at all and therefore they all end up in the same class. That's talking about a couple of girls, not all of them of course. Then, there's the male version of those girls. They wear saggy pants and practically walk around the school in their underwear. They get into fights so easily that there's at least 1 fight every week. They hang out in the bathrooms and curse a lot. They also harass girls sometimes. They don't care about their grades either. This DOES NOT apply to all of the students of course, but you're bound to find at least 5 people that match those descriptions. But of course, there are nice people that actually care about their educations and ones that are respectful to everybody.
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2020

I would rate this lower than 1 star if I could. One of the worse middle schools in the district.
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2020

This school is in need of some serious changes.
Submitted by parent on August 20, 2019

Overall, pretty good, says my daughter after one full year at Hamilton. As a parent, I would rate our experience pretty positive overall after one year. Considering that middle school can be rough in general, I'm grateful we had a smooth and positive year.
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2019

Literally from the first day of school for my daughter she was bullied and constantly threatened about being jumped just from smiling at one of the kids. I would not send your child to this school unless you want your child bullied and nothing to be done about it. I took her out of this school within two weeks!! Super sad.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2019

I don’t know how low a school needs to drop before a leader is replaced. The collapse of this once successful middle school is a hidden tragedy within dps.
Submitted by parent on June 21, 2018

This school is really a great middle school. The teachers and the principle really care about our kids. They are passionate and super hard working. I would call at 7pm and the principal would take my call. They do so many things for our kids and push them to be there best. Middle school is a hard time but they work hard at Hamilton to make it the best and to make sure all kids get what they need.
Submitted by parent on April 29, 2018

My oldest son had a great experience with IPM and now it’s gone and school is horrible.
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2017

My student recently finished her years at Hamilton. It is rare that you find a school that has the courage to do what's right for kids. The current administration has ended the separate programs from that told my daughter she was not a "magnet" student at all, when I know middle school kids change quickly in their grades and skills. I had terrible experiences with some the teachers that looked at my daughter as a label and less skilled, until the new principal came and said ENOUGH. Mr Sawyer and his team took a stand for what's right, and now the parents of the "magnet students" are out to get him. I am very involved in community rights advocacy and saw the injustices that were real at this school for kids with disabilities and who are poor. I totally agree with the direction the school is headed. Don't believe the hype from certain voices. This school is doing right by kids now!