Westside Middle School

8601 Arbor Street

School District

Westside Community Schools
Grade

7-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Westside Community 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 October 01, 2023

Love the Westside school district. Teachers and administration is excellent. They are better funded than OPS and have high standards for the children & parents. If your child isn't academically inclined or you have no interest in having an active roll in your child's education go somewhere else. If all you want to do is make excuses for your child for why they aren't doing well in class go somewhere else. This is a school with HIGH standards for the students & the parents.
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2021

Westside in general has been a great decision for our family. My oldest is finishing up 8th grade & my middle is going into Westside Middle School in 2 years with an IEP. I am interested in seeing the difference between their experiences. So far it’s been very positive.
Submitted by parent on October 15, 2019

Our child has flourished at Westside Middle School. The middle school breaks the student population into teams, which makes it more intimate. Passionate teachers, a wide range of electives and a strong and steady prinicpal make this a great place. My child will be ready for high school both academically and socially. The EY program has offered him some amazing opportunities.
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2017

Two sets of rules. One for rich kids and one for everyone else. Rich kids bully the heck out of everyone and the deans and principal turn a blind eye. Blame the victim even.
Submitted by other on January 16, 2017

From the beginning of the year, the kids are expected to know how to be completely independent when it comes to their schoolwork and notes and time management. From the 3rd day of school, he has had about 4-5 hours of homework each night, for a 7th grader! The school fought with me to get him back on a 504 plan. The plan has already been revised and the teachers are still not following it, counselor is awful, doesn't do anything, principal refuses to talk to me and none of the teachers are responding to email. The elementary system is great!! It all falls apart once you get to the middle school. I'm very disappointed.
Submitted by student on September 17, 2015

Westside is an amazing school district. My parents opted me in and it was the greatest decision we've made. To a previous comment: Things have changed. The gifted program is now a way students can participate in seminars with much extracurricular activities that are also presented in a fun way and everyone I talk to has fun. And students do get punished for mediocre work. It's called failing. The grading system is very tight in order to weed out good grades from bad. Nowadays there is also specialized reading classes, for those who need a little extra help. You can choose between three languages to choose as well. And Spanish needs to be the way it is. The first semester is a well needed review, and the second semester starts on more of the advanced stuff. New students to the district take a special Spanish class to catch them up, if they choose to take the Spanish route. Based on previous comments, I, as a student can surely say things have changed, and Westside Middle School is nearly perfect, despite minor inequivalent errors.
Submitted by other on April 07, 2015

I went to westside from gretna and the first week i was happier than i ever was in gretna. THE END
Submitted by other on January 31, 2014

For everyone who is saying Westside is a bad school below, get with the times. I am an EY (excellence in youth) student which is an advanced placement thing. The teachers will adjust the difficulty of the work based on your ability, so it doesn't matter that they are all lumped together. The fact that we have the variety of ability in our school makes it feel like you are never alone. We constantly read and type/write, taking notes, reading out of textbooks, reading examples, every Tuesday reading for 30 minutes. The honors English program is now available to all kids in the high school.
Submitted by parent on December 10, 2013

Westside has excellent elementary schools, but the middle school is a disaster. It is a waste of two years. Other than Math, all kids take the same classes, regardless of ability. So, in English, Science, etc., you have the brightest kids sitting next to the slowest. There is very little writing or reading in the curriculum. Students are allowed to turn in mediocre work, with no consequence. Communication with the parents in nonexistent. The EY (gifted) program is a joke; students take a one-quarter-long class and that's it. That particular teacher refuses to answer parent questions and the administration does not care. We had to move one of our children to a private school. Another is there now. Despite being very bright, he is failing classes. Discipline is a problem. Students will be removed from class (by the resource officer) for swearing at the teacher, then they'll be back 2 or 3 days later. It makes it very difficult for the good kids to learn.