Good Shepherd Community School - Fort McMurray, Alberta

?

I attended this school from kindergarten to grade six. This is recent, mind you. I graduated last year and am now in grade seven. It was horrible. They had plenty of assemblies and field trips, but none of them seemed very well put together, and everything seemed unprofessional and rushed. The staff treat special needs kids like animals. I had a classmate with ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), and they refused to treat them the way they needed to be treated. Instead, they drug them to the principal's office and often used physical force to make them cooperate. There was also an insane amount of bullying that happened at the school, to the point that I knew more fifth and sixth graders who were either suicidal, self-harmed or both, than I can count on both hands, and absolutely nothing was done about it. In fact, there was a rumour that a student was bullied to the point of bringing a knife to school with the intention of committing homicide. (I'm unaware of who it was but I believe I was there when they had the knife, and I didn't see anybody take action or reveal the knife, but somehow the teachers found out and one student, who I will not name alike the rest of the students on this list for their own privacy, did not attend school for around two weeks afterwards. More rumours spread afterwards and apparently, the teachers were very supportive. I didn't notice any students permanently leave afterwards, so they obviously were not expelled. I don't believe this was a good thing, as they may attempt something similar again.) They and multiple other students had made multiple cries for help and regularly mentioned suicide and their mental issues and were completely ignored. Favouritism is also very prominent among the teachers. They won't openly state that they like one student more than another, but I've heard from multiple other students and witnessed from my own experiences obvious sexism, racism, and much other discrimination for no apparent reason. The parents are never informed of any issues that occur at the school. The teachers choose to focus on threatening to send children to the principal's office and telling their parents because they were hugging or play fighting, instead of managing real issues. This is a PSA. Do not send your children to this school. I beg of you, for your children's own safety. This isn't even a school, it's a joke. Thank you for reading this, and I'm not religious but I pray to whatever gods are out there that this helps somebody avoid experiencing the same things that the poor children who've attended this school have gone through.

Note - This does not apply to all teachers in this school. I have met some wonderful teachers here who brightened my experience.

Finally, if this review gets taken down, that's just more proof that the teachers will lie to make the school look better, because I know that the teachers know everything on this list (excluding the rumours, they were never proven right or wrong to my knowledge.) is completely true.

Zack T.

First they had a back room where they would apparently lock up kids if they were crying and my other kid said that there was a kid named Anton who would constantly yell and throw fits and tantrums but would never get in trouble I’m just saying if this is true you guys should close down

Sonia Q.

This school is the worse for favoritism over white kids compared to children of color! I had endured harsh treatment from certain teacher's in this school and once I fell behind they segregated me to a room alone in the back of the school with no help! Don't send your kids here!

Jeanne L.

Well, from the teachers laying hands on my grandaughter to the principal never returning my calls this school can't get much worse 😠

Kendra W.

Krista M.