Macarthur Middle School

3500 Rockenbach Road

Fort Meade, MD 20755

School District

Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
Type

public

School Map for Anne Arundel 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 December 17, 2024

I am writing this review to express my severe disappointment with [School Name]. As a current student, I feel compelled to share my experiences, which have been overwhelmingly negative.First and foremost, the teaching quality at this school is dismal. Instructors often fail to engage students or offer meaningful support, and many lessons feel like an endless lecture of irrelevant information. When students struggle, teachers provide little to no help, merely offering a vague set of rules without any practical guidance. It’s infuriating to see the same problems rehashed without any real explanation or assistance.Bullying is another serious issue here. It is utterly disappointing to witness the rampant disrespect among students. Unfortunately, when bullying incidents occur, the response from teachers and administration is lackluster at best. In my personal experience, I have faced bullying multiple times, only for the teachers and vice principal to side with the bully rather than support the victim. This creates a toxic environment where students feel unsafe and unprotected.Additionally, the cafeteria food leaves much to be desired, with some items being almost rock-hard and inedible. A nutritious meal is essential for students, and it’s disheartening to see such a lack of care in this area.Lastly, the grading system at [School Name] is absurdly inefficient. It’s like trying to hit a moving target; assignments often take an eternity to be graded, making it feel as though getting feedback is nearly impossible. The chances of receiving timely grades are so slim that the process feels more like finding a million dollars than an educational institution fulfilling its duty.Overall, I cannot recommend [School Name] with the way things are currently. It is essential for schools to foster a supportive, respectful, and engaging environment for students, and this school unfortunately misses the mark on all fronts. I sincerely hope for positive changes in the future, but as it stands, my experience here has been far from satisfactory.
Submitted by student on July 20, 2024

I hate it here literally , js horrible, I do NOT recommend sending ur child here
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2023

Hi All,I want to put this review here as I would like to inform the viewers of this website, of my experience with MacArthur Middle School. I have a disabled child who is assigned to the school and has not been provided a special bus as of today. I was circling from one person to another till today and literally found that the assigned bus is going to pick up and drop off my disabled daughter four blocks away starting tomorrow. This is because the responsible person thinks that a paved street of 30 feet width ending in a cul-de-sac of 40 feet radius is not appropriate for the bus and tells me that there are no protocols for changing this pick-up/drop-off address. Lessons learned: Never buy a house on a cul-de-sac if you have a disabled child, especially in a modern community like "Seven Oaks" built in the late 90s. I think I shall also go the other way and try to ask the developers of the community to fix this issue because their architects did not consider the ADA requirements in their designs. I think the better would be to recommend not to move to Anne Arundel County at all!Thanks for reading and please pray for us so we get the best solution to the problem.Best Regards,
Submitted by student on November 01, 2022

I have to say, after reading all the reviews from years ago, it is clear to me that the school has changed, but not as much as some say. There are a lot more teachers who care, but at the time I am writing this, there are 25-ish open positions. Even though the current principal is trying to improve the school, the kids don’t care. The county still sees this school as less than. The IB program is a joke. Do STEM instead. I, a white female have not faced bullying or have been involved in a fight, but know kids that have fought or bullied. It’s slowly getting better.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2022

its great but needs to improve more
Submitted by parent on September 21, 2021

My child is being bullied. The teachers do not care that he is called names and books slapped out of hand. I called to talk to someone, they pushed me off saying the person I needed to speak to was on the phone. They never called back. My child gets to go to a school on a military base with staff that do not enforce appropriate school conduct.
Submitted by parent on July 16, 2019

My child did well, we met some incredible teachers, but we are so glad to be saying goodbye to this school. It exhausted us.
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2019

I would not send any other child to this school as long as it remains AACPS’s second chance middle school.
Submitted by parent on September 28, 2018

Maybe 5 but could be a 10 with correct resources financially for training
Submitted by parent on June 18, 2018

Absolutely awful. The bullying, disrespect towards teachers and fighting is out of control.
Submitted by parent on June 05, 2018

This year (2017-18) was my sons first, and absolute last, year at this school. If you value your childs mental health and wellbeing you will definitely keep them OUT of this school, I wish I would have.
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2018

From Day 1 this has been a terrible experience for my child. We cannot speak well of a school that has caused so much mental anguish to our child due to out-of-control children, apathetic and incompetent teachers, and leadership that prefers to "talk things over" as opposed to imposing a proper punishment.To any military family looking to live near Fort Meade, my recommendation would be live off-post and to enroll your kids in Howard County. To this day the only regret we have from our assignment to Fort Meade is not having done just that.
Submitted by parent on February 21, 2018

This school is by far the worst school ever. The teachers and staff are rude, unprofessional, and do not display their passion for children. The students run wild, they are always fighting, smoking, violating dress code and are just out of control while the staff does nothing. One on my students teachers broke down crying in class one day b/c one student was misbehaving, one student. This school is really close to being a modern day east side high. Keep your children away.
Submitted by parent on February 07, 2018

Poor. My child is scared, she does not focus on learning, and her character is being crushed.
Submitted by parent on January 07, 2018

This is been a horrible experience with the school resulting inky removing the student And sending him to another school.
Submitted by parent on November 10, 2017

Awful. As a military family my children have attended plenty of schools. This is by far the worst. It's more like a juvenile detention center
Submitted by parent on April 20, 2017

First, let me say Mrs. Dudeck makes this school a great place. She has been helpful to my son and I beyond compare. Mr.McDowell is also amazing. We have had set backs, concerns, and uncomfortable situations because of the dynamic of students at this school- BUT they work positively, and endlessly to support ALL students in their charge. The building itself needs work (which is currently happening). I recommend all involved parents give MacArthur a chance to surprise you. The climate at this school, and every school, is dependent on expectations, interactions, and involvement of teachers, administration, students, parents, and support staff. I see potential in MacArthur.
Submitted by parent on March 28, 2017

I waited till now to give a review. I absolutely love this school. My daughter's teachers are very hands on. Even giving their cell phone numbers to have direct connect. I heard fights and horrible things. Thinking I will have to move her but this year just reassures me that my son will do great next year too. My daughter's grades have stayed the same, still honor roll. I can't give enough credit to these teachers. It takes a village to raise a child. They have the kids for 8 hours a day and do a great job helping guild my child to her goal. I can honestly say our village is doing a great job.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2017

Just an amazing school! The Faculty and Staff are Great! Makes for an awesome place for kids to go to. My son loves McArthur!
Submitted by other on March 24, 2017

I think communication between parents and staff/teachers could be better when sending out information about events and happenings at the school. Anytime I've needed anything from the school, though, they were always very quick to accommodate me. My son enjoys the classes in the 6th grade.