Topsail Middle School

17445 US Hwy 17

School District

Pender County
Grade

5-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:19
Type

public

School Map for Pender County 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 student on April 22, 2023

I am still a student here at TMs, and honestly, I hate it, it is so racist and the rules are stupid and they are very poor. They have mold in the bathrooms, and with tests, they do not take it seriously at all, all they do is joke around. One of my teachers tries to bribe you with prizes, pizza and candy just so we can get a better score.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2021

This school has no vocal music program. If your child wants to pursue a career in singing or music education, avoid Pender County schools.
Submitted by parent on February 03, 2020

I was involved so my experience was good. During two incidents that required me to get involved, I was extremely disappointed with one interaction and extremely pleased with the other. The staff are dedicated and solely responsible for all of the achievements at this school. They put in overtime with their complete hearts and souls to ensure every student has the opportunity for success and learning.
Submitted by parent on May 13, 2019

The gym teachers are fantastic as is the admin but the majority of the teachers are monitoring work for my 2 kids. One of my kids is in Advanced Math and she has to teach herself as the teacher is terrible and just assigns workbook activity. Complete joke.
Submitted by student on May 29, 2018

Overall, TMS is a pretty great school! Some of the teachers aren’t great, but there are many more who are. In my three years here I’ve overall enjoyed it and now have more friends than I’ve ever had before: this school has a lot of diversity as far as personalities go. It’s not a perfect school, but it is a lot better than it could be!
Submitted by parent on March 23, 2018

Clueless principal as to child safety in the pick up and drop off area, many teachers leaving because of the school politics, I would say 0 out of a 10.
Submitted by parent on May 31, 2017

Horrible. I wish there was a different option for my kids to attend middle school.
Submitted by parent on December 13, 2016

I'm not sure why this school has a high ranking. My child is AIG, but they do not offer AIG to sixth graders for some reason. My child also hoped to participate in orchestra, which the school does not offer. Finally, ten weeks into the year, the topics being covered in Math amount to review for my child, who was enrolled in an adjacent county the prior year (New Hanover).
Submitted by parent on June 30, 2015

I've had two of my children attend this school. The first one, who is special needs, was bullied by other students and at least two teachers, especially during 7th grade. Even though these incidents were brought to the attention of staff, it only took care of the problem temporarily. It was our worst school year ever. My child also had a teacher (8th grade English) who gave out more homework and more projects than I have ever seen one teacher give. Never mind the fact that this child had special needs and three other classes. We had just enrolled him in an after-school activity about 6 months earlier, but ended up having to give it up because he could not keep up with the homework load. I'd like to add that this was mostly what I like to call "busy work". For example, the class was given a project to read a book. After the book was finished, they were to do SEVERAL projects related to this one book. Such things as "write and record a rap song about the book" or "create a shadow box and fill it with things related to the book". These are just two of a number of very time-consuming project ideas that were on the list. To us, it was simply work overload over one simple book. Time that could have been spent learning something new. My other child has not had any bad experiences so far. The front office staff is nice and friendly. As far as the current teachers go, it depends on who your child gets. Some teachers are very good at keeping you in the loop on your child's progress and others are not.
Submitted by parent on December 20, 2013

Topnotch teacher communication with the parents. Parent involvement is tremendous with fundraisers, dances, etc., all organized by parents with teacher involvement. Lots of sports and clubs to choose from. We moved here from out of state this year, and I am very pleased with the school district. Happy we chose this district!!
Submitted by parent on March 13, 2012

Great administration, great teachers! In response to the previous review about teachers leaving, this has to do with budget cuts that the school has no control over. If this upsets you, contact the Pender County Board of Education and your politicians and let your voice be heard. The principal and his staff have zero tolerance for bullying. My daughter had a situation that she brought to the staff's attention and it was handled immediately and in a professional manner. The parent participation is awesome! The PTSO is very organized and active at TMS.
Submitted by parent on November 19, 2010

Very disappointed. The school is rated a 9 but we have had so many problems. Teachers coming & going, quitting,being fired. The school is very disorganized. There are too many bulling issues and they are not being dealt with in an appropriate manner.