Adaline E. Kent Middle School

800 College Avenue

School District

Kentfield Elementary
Grade

5-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Kentfield Elementary 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 June 27, 2024

My child currently attends Kent Middle and we are having a fantastic experience. The administrators, teachers, and staff are very kind to students, parents and each other. I definitely recommend it.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2023

Kent is a fantastic school! We have two kids at Kent (one with learning differences) and the teachers have gone above and beyond to push them both to meet their individual potentials. They are thriving! We have found the community to be warm and supportive. The principal, Grant Althouse, is quite frankly, phenomenal. He leads by example and sets a tone of kindness and respect. We have nothing but gratitude for the amazing staff at Kent. Highly recommend!
Submitted by parent on October 19, 2017

We are very impressed with this school and the amazing faculty it retains year over year. The teachers are incredibly dedicated to their discipline and are so passionate about their subject and students. We feel fortunate to have our children get taught by them each and every day. It's cool to study and get good grades here which is a powerful environment for kids to be in and around. They seem to elevate each other and really help each other through study groups. There are also super extra-curricular activities that go own during lunch and after school. Because it's a smaller class size then surrounding middle schools, there's a closeness with the classes that is evident. It is a gem of a community that feels safe, positive and a place to call home for such formidable years.
Submitted by student on June 05, 2017

PART 1: My experience at this school was not that great. The school year is almost to an end and it is only getting worse. Ever since around September of 2016, I got really engaged with politics. How does this matter you might ask? Well, I am a republican born in Texas and as you know, California and Texas are near opposites. I bought a Donald Trump sweater to show my support for this election, and yes I wore it to school. The reactions from teachers are horrible. I get dirty looks very often from teachers and few actually respect me as a student or person. If you are working at a school with children you should be treating them like children, not a political rival. Beside from that, now that it is the end of the school year, teachers have became a lot worse. Kids are really exited to get out of school, especially Kent. The teachers response to this was them telling us that as our excitement goes up their patience goes down. If you are a teacher you should have patience, a very important and simple skill to have. Why become a teacher if you cannot stand students? Now I will move on to School Lunches. I personally do not eat the school lunches because they are overpriced, and disgusting. My friends have showed me and let me try their lunches that the cafeteria gives them, and they are wretched meals. The pieces looks like a stiff piece of cardboard with frozen cheese put on top of it. Half the time the food isn't even properly prepared of heated. If you are going to put your child in this school, avoid the school provided lunches. Now lets move on to something the staff seem to care about more than learning, which is punishment. I see even the nicest of kids getting detentions for the stupidest reasons. Most of the time, running in the halls. This would make sense if this was a indoor school with slim halls being very crouded, but this school is completely outdoors, besides the rooms, obviously. Something that has happened to me before is that my next class is all the way across the school and I only have around a minute to get there. So I jog my way over just so I don't get a detention for being late. A teacher sees me running through a near empty pathway and makes me walk back to where I started, then walk all the way to the next class, making me late, giving me a detention for being late, and running. How silly is that?
Submitted by student on January 30, 2017

Kent Middle is an interesting type of school. This year, out of all of my 4 years being a student, this is the worst. Bullying:Most people proclaim that there is a small amount to no bully activity on campus, but this is false. Most of the harassment and bullying is done discreetly and in todays social media. 2 months in to 2016, one student in the 8th grade changed schools because of the negative attention toward him. Most children that get bullied with out physical harassment don't show it as much as kids do that are physically hurt, but these kids can be more tormented than with physical bullying. Teachers:The teachers on this campus are quite nice, but lacking in teaching skills. They do not have the capability to provide the full learning experience to all of the children. Most students are left out, and unaccounted for. Math is very lacking in this area. To the contrary, then Spanish taught at Kent is quite good, and is probably the best taught subject of all. Homework:The homework quantity is a problem. Most students always complain about the excessive amounts of homework, but it is different here. Most teachers don't even bother to consider that we HAVE OTHER CLASSES with different homework. Factoring in all of that, it, at least for me, sometimes leads to 2 hours of homework. In our agenda which they give us it states that in the 8th grade there should be a maximum of about 1 hour of homework. Conclusion: Unless you want your child to be (slightly) harassed, ill taught, and unprepared for high school, you might want to pick a different secondary school.
Submitted by other on March 30, 2015

I go to Kent Middle School at the moment, and this year and throughout the years, its been horrible. The kids are snobby and all teachers except for a few (Mrs. Ward and a couple others understand) don't understand what the children are going through. For example, I have after school activities that take up most of the day, and the homework that the teachers assign will keep me up too at least 11:00, which is an hour past my bed time. What the teachers don't understand is that we have lives outside of school, and we don't have time to spend an hour on math and an hour on science both, with another hour and a half of history, language arts, and spanish combined. I honestly believe that the academics are great at this school, they get you ready for highschool, but with the social pressures and excessive amount of homework it makes it hard to focus. I wake up before 7:00 every day, and going to bed late because of homework doesn't make my mornings any brighter. Children my age are supposed to get 8-9 hours of sleep every night, but at Kent Middle School, that won't happen. You'll be getting 6-7 hours. Back on the topic of the snobby kids, they gossip like CRAZY. Don't trust anyone.
Submitted by other on March 19, 2015

My son has been made fun of because he is african American by teachers and students alike. They don't support having other races in there school an when they do they are made fun of so much some people don't feel safe
Submitted by parent on December 03, 2013

Unbelievable principal and assistant principal set the tone for an incredible middle school experience. Wonderful transition provided from 4th to 5th (elementary school 5th grade experience but on the middle school campus) and from 5th to 6th ("real" middle school with lockers, changing classes, electives, etc.). Extremely involved parent community, outstanding PTA, and tireless KIK Foundation that provide a "private" school enrichment experience at a public school. Most teachers not living in the District petition to have their own children attend Bacich and Kent. Programs like Mathletes, Archery, Robotics, Mural Design, Project Fashion Runway, and an amazing Student Activities teacher round out the experience for all ages. Nothing better in all of Marin, public or private.
Submitted by parent on October 27, 2013

Kent is over-rated and on the decline. Generally, good kids at the school, but the administration is poor and pays lip service only to parent's concerns and feedback. There are a few very good teachers, but on average the teachers are adequate only, comfortable in their tenure and coasting. Many teachers are rude to their students, and the quality of the curriculum is declining quickly. The math program in particular is weak and getting worse. We had teachers tell us they couldn't help our children because they were too busy with their private tutoring practice class outside of class hours.
Submitted by other on October 24, 2013

Beware, Kent middle school is poorly run by staff. The principal is stuck up, when I told him where I had plans of going to highschool (redwood) he laughed. The school generally takes the side of the accuser (when a student conflict), and nourishes that person like a baby. Much like Redwood high school, the teachers are overrated and take little kindness in the students outside activities. Forget what the parents are saying, I was a student and I went there. The rules are outrageous, detentions are given out for simply holding a basketball in the library. Pressure is overly high on kids to do well (think about it, its only middle school!) which takes away the fun of actually learning. You might ignore the only one star this school has, but Kent middle isn't a smart choice for your kids. I wouldn't be writing this much if it was... Just prepare yourself and your kid for an unenjoyable time. God bless you.
Submitted by parent on August 13, 2012

Our two children went to Kent, one chose to leave on his own because he was unhappy with the school. The issue for him was that the teachers allowed a small number of disruptive students ruin the experience of the rest of the kids. For whatever reason the teachers did not curtail the disruptions. Over the years we found that teachers, and administration were not responsive to the concerns expressed by parents. There are a few new teachers who offer a ray of hope that this school will improve, but there are a few of the old, tenured guard who dial it in and bring down the school - the principal included.
Submitted by parent on March 22, 2012

Although the academics as well as the extra curricular activities are far superior at Kent MS than most schools in CA, there are issues with how students are treated by other students and staff. There is supposed to be no tolerance for bullies, but children being bullied are not allowed to defend themselves, and if they do, they are punished, and in many cases their bullies are not. It's very disheartening.
Submitted by parent on December 04, 2011

Kent Middle School is an amazing environment for a tough time in kids lives. Not only academically focussed, but socially supportive. The Foundation (KIK) works hard to raise over $1.2 M to fund all the 'extras' most public schools have had to cut because of budgets. (p.e., art, music, tech, library). The admin and staff are the best, brightest, most thoughtful and caring educators anywhere. We came from private school in SF to the Kentfield School District and are very happy to be part of this school community.
Submitted by other on December 03, 2011

My teachers all all pretty nice, and we are one of the best schools in Marin. We have many activities at school like before school band and chorus, after school band and chorus, during school band and chorus, art, drama, technology, typing, creative writing, wood shop, architecture, and Spanish. We are very lucky at our school to have a technology room and a library stocked with many great books and it also has computers like the two technology rooms.
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2010

We moved here from Nevada just for this school. The faculty and staff are all top-notch!
Submitted by parent on January 23, 2009

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