West Chatham Middle School

800 Pine Barren Road

School District

Chatham County
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:15
Type

public

School Map for Chatham 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 parent on March 14, 2024

My son is a current student at this school and is on the sixth grade leopards team, he has been constantly complaining about his math teacher yelling at him and his classmates for no reason at all, cussing at students, is very violent, and in all honesty I do not feel safe with my son at this school. And he has been talking nonstop about his math teacher getting a DUI, and yes he is an adult, but there are photos of his mugshot all over the school! My son is now telling me that him or his little friends don't feel safe at this school.
Submitted by student on December 08, 2023

The school lunch is bad, and the teachers can be rude. There is one Spanish teacher who invades students personal space and I’m part of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), and she did not let me go to work at our school shop, even though she signed a contract willingly. Another thing is how the teachers put their hands on students with no consequences or outcome. Along with the school being unsanitary, dirty, and multiple roaches and bugs around the classrooms and halls. And with the school water fountains either always broken or with flakes of unknown substances in the water, giving some of the students sicknesses or make them throw up. Another thing is how they make us turn in our phones every morning in homeroom, and many students do not like this, one good reason we should keep our phones is because of the danger, and how we can’t contact anyone or any of our loved ones if something happens. Like take a possible shooting as an example, we could lose our lives and not be able to tell any of our loved ones good bye, and we wouldn’t be able to contact help such as the police or 911.
Submitted by student on March 24, 2023

TERRIBLE SCHOOL!!! Students are often using substances in class, the teachers in the school curse at the students, and their attire looks like they're going out for a party. One of the 8th Grade Science teachers has extreme anger issues, yells at students for little things, is terrible at teaching, and refuses to put in grades for quizzes that were given to students by the teacher. Overall cannot control the class & loses his temper when the students are talking. The teachers also neglect their student's learning & whether they're able to speak English or not. That's another thing, there is no support for students who cannot speak English well, they're put in an English-speaking class with an English-speaking teacher, which doesn't help, right? Students can only use the bathroom when their teachers take them which is about twice a day. Overall, the school is just terrible, no idea why it's still open. It's a very dirty school with a very unorganized schedule. The curriculum is so behind, teaching misinformation to students. I once confronted this & was told I was incorrect even though multiple sources were in support of what I said. From that experience, I started teaching myself the things I needed to know in order to be successful hence why my overall grammar & writing is very decent for my age. I've also come to notice that the school isn't even teaching national standards that you're taught in a certain grade. Sure, every state is taught differently per the state Board of Education, but there Is still a national standard in which every student in that grade must learn someone relating to that, West Chatham goes way off the boards with useless information. I came to notice how every student lacks the basic ability to spell simple words & cannot grasp simple concepts such as the RACE strategy & basic multiplication/adding. This is extremely worrying, especially for 8th-grade students. This is my first year in this County & school & I deeply hate it, I was originally in Bryan County at Richmond Hill Middle School. Back on topic, the school has NO BUSES, the Track Team can't even get a bus to their meets on Saturday, sometimes they can't even go to the local high school for practice because they have no bus, as well as students cannot get a bus in the mornings & would be standing outside waiting for the bus for an hour and a half, I would often walk into school at 3rd block because of my the fact no one could pick us up until close to 9:20. Terrible.
Submitted by student on November 07, 2022

bad school, bullying is very consistent and everything is just terrible the lunch is not, and the students make fun of people for how they look and talk, me for example. I seriously start re-evaluating the way you people are running your school before anything bad happens.
Submitted by student on June 03, 2019

If I could transfer i would. They completely sweep bullying situations under the rug, and make it worse. I have issues with telling schools about bullying because of a similar situation in elementary school where they promised "100% anonymity" when reporting bullying, but when they called me in they called the bully in too. Telling us to basically suck it up and stop fighting, even though i didnt do anything to this girl. After this incident she proceeded to bully me even more, calling me a snitch. All the girls in the grade turned against me because they were friends with her. They also have a terrible "pay to have fun" situation in 8th grade where you have to pay around 100 dollars to go outside and have fun. If you didn't pay you had to sit in a classroom for a whole week doing work or just sitting around in silence because the teachers wouldnt let you talk. Students should not be shamed and punished for not paying for your stupid "8th grade week". Some children cant afford to pay, so inturn they have to sit around and deal with it?? Honestly disgusting. It's ruling out children who are more disadvantaged than others. Oh, you can't afford 800 dollars to go to New York with us? here's a bunch of work to do while we have fun. Not to mention the teachers act just as ignorant as the rest of us students. Most of the time you question how they even got a degree. One teacher literally just eats in class all day and hands out surprise projects about things she never taught us, which almost doomed us all if she wasnt absent most of the time so the substitutes could teach us something. If you have other options, please don't go here. I've spent four long years here and I regret every one but i have no other school to turn to because of the stupid "district zones". you've been warned.
Submitted by other on July 13, 2016

I feel as if I belong here and I have so many friends there but there is one thing holding me back.... There are a lot of fights
Submitted by parent on July 15, 2015

South west Chatham middle school has amazingly intellectual teachers which teach the next generation the skills to have a successful career and life.
Submitted by parent on March 27, 2015

This school is horrible! Teachers and students are disrespectful. Teachers do not and cannot control their classes. There is no notification from teachers if a student is struggling. If the student needs extra help they must sign up for tutorial, which often gets cancelled without any notice. Lost of fighting between students. Students can only use the restroom once a day when teachers unlock them. If something happens to your child, you better hope the camera in that part of the building is working because the majority of them are not. Lots of bullying going on without teachers doing anything about it. If this is the school your children are supposed to attend, I would strongly suggest that you coconsider homeschooling.
Submitted by parent on September 10, 2014

Worst middle school in Savannah GA. Too much bullying, no professional attitude from teachers/staff, etc. Yet, not understanding why it is still open?
Submitted by other on July 29, 2014

Bathrooms remained locked due to obscene graffiti being written on the walls by students with no home-training. If there's a bullying problem, it is because kids aren't being raised right at home. WCMS teachers are there to teach academics, not morals... That is the parents job! WCMS has made great strides in all areas of academics. CRCT scores went up this year, and all the teachers offer after-school tutorial to help any child who needs it. The administration supports teachers and students... The advanced classes are really good and offer the students ways to excel in many ways. Overall, it's a really good school!
Submitted by parent on July 18, 2014

this school is horrible teachers are rude and disrespectful to the kids yet expect the kids to respect them the bulling is aweful but when you ask the school they say there is no bulling in there school also the bathrooms stay locked they are only allowed to go when teachers take them so little girls have to suck it up
Submitted by other on February 23, 2014

This literally the worst school in Georgia. I attended for my 6th grade year and it was awful. The students were out of control, the bullying was horrible, and the teachers did nothing about it.
Submitted by other on October 24, 2013

This school has wonderful teachers who have high expectations of ALL students- even ones with "special needs." No, they don't coddle, and they do expect ALL students to try their best. Students who have been enabled their whole lives will not do well--especially if the teachers are not supported by the parents. Parents, if you do your child's homework for them, or allow them to not even try on assignments that might be too hard, then you should keep your child home to homeschool them. WCMS is not the place for you. The teachers are NOT bullies-- they do push the children to do their best. Sometimes the child (but more often, their PARENTS) can't handle the expectations set forth by the teachers... and they won't be able to handle the expectations of society. Even children with 'special needs' are expected to TRY to work to their ability level. No child is allowed to sit around, talk back, do nothing, and distract others-- all under the guise of "I can't do this, so I don't have to try!"
Submitted by parent on October 22, 2013

The majority of the teachers at this school are terrible. The good ones are few and far between. The students are misbehaved and there is no control of the classroom. My special needs child who has always loved school was bullied by one of his teachers to the point where he hated going to school every day. I am so glad that we no longer have to attend this school.
Submitted by other on September 27, 2013

West Chatham Middle school is a good school. It like all schools have their problems, but look what the students have accomplished. They try to expose the students to many cultures, they challenge them in Math and science areas. They try to always encourage them to do their best.