Kinawa School

1900 KINAWA DR

School District

Okemos Public Schools
Grade

5-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:15
Type

public

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 other on September 20, 2023

Was blamed for being called slurs, told by a home room teacher that I need to “stop taking everything as an attack” when being bullied, I am autistic and they would not give me an iep, they would not do anything to stop bullying but said they would, had a lgbtq+ club made by teachers but was still bullied for it. So basically, they say they care but they definitely don’t.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2020

My daughter had wonderful experience with some teachers, but not all. Her math teacher was really bad, not in terms of personality, just does not know how to teach. This may only apply to one particular math teacher but unfortunately it was the one that my daughter had. My daughter struggled so much that it made her doubt herself. There was a math concept she struggled all semester. I sat down with her and spent 5 minutes explaining it, she immediately got it and was able to do all the exercises I created. This leads me to think that her math teacher either does not have the skill to teach a child, or does not have 5 minutes to explain a concept to a student on an individual basis. I immediately pulled her out of Kinewa and enrolled her in a private school. In less than a semester, she is one of top students in math and truly enjoyed it. In the private school, there is an very experienced math teacher, and a teaching aid that constantly walking around the classroom to ask each student if he/she needs help. I think pulling my daughter out of Kinewa is one of the best decisions we have made for my daughter's education. I hope the Kinewa leadership could really look into the quality of some teachers. In our case, this particular person is getting ready to get married. I guess it is an excuse. But it does not change the fact that she does not know how to teach a child. I wish there is some screening criteria to weep out bad teachers.
Submitted by parent on July 25, 2019

I don't know how the student-teacher ratio is calculated here as 16:1. My son has 28 students in his class and student numbers in other classes are similar, usually close to 30 students per home room teacher.
Submitted by parent on August 26, 2018

My child's teachers at Kinawa are fantastic! I love how they challenge her to learn extra yet don't have her feeling overwhelmed. She is genuinely excited to learn and share with me what she did in school each day. The students are typical middle school students so there are a couple not so nice ones here and there, but mostly they are kind and compassionate kids that are raised in good families. I also LOVE their music program and all the extracurricular activities they have available to them, including Science Olympiad. I feel confident sending my daughter to Kinawa as I know her social/emotion well being is taken care of at Kinawa and she is receiving a quality education.
Submitted by other on August 29, 2013

My school kinawa middle school is the best school ever the teachers are really nice and so are the students!!!!
Submitted by other on May 19, 2012

Great school and curriculum! Extra help is ALWAYS provided. Fun after school activities. Just wonderful.
Submitted by parent on April 24, 2012

Test scores are good, but that's due as much to demographics and parental education as anything happening in the classroom. The administrators are lazy and "too busy" to meet with parents. Interpersonal issues between kids (e.g., bullying) are not addressed without significant parental follow-up. The teachers teach to the bottom of the class, presumably for test-score purposes, and blame "administrative requirements" for their unwillingness to step things up for more accelerated students. We've had children as students in the district for over a decade, and have noted a marked deterioration in the quality and leadership capabilities of the administrators in the last several years.