Medicine Hat Public School Division No. 76 - Medicine Hat, Alberta

Bryan L.

We're going through it right now with our 15-year-old in math. This grading system of E, M, A and whatever the other letter is, is extremely frustrating! Teachers can just look at an assignment and write an A or an M on it, and parents will have no clue if their kid is getting 35% 51% or 79%. It's arbitrary!

For a class like math, it can't be arbitrary. Either a question is right or wrong. So to use this grading system for elementary... fine! But to try and get grade 8 and 9 kids prepared for high school using this lettering system is crazy! To this day, we have no idea whether our kid had a 51% grade in Math 9 or a 79% grade in math 9. All we know is he "met" the criteria and passed the course. Want to see some graded work? Can't, because it's almost entirely done online!

Why are they doing this to grade 9 kids specifically? If you want to get them prepared for high school, parents need to be made aware of any shortcomings their kids might have. And using an "approaching/meeting" system doesn't give you that precise measure of where they are!

Now our son is in grade 10 math, completely in over his head for two reasons.

1) We didn't realize just how far behind he was in grade 9 math. He passed, so that's basically all we were aware of.

2) His current grade 10 teacher, literally just lets kids (brand new to high school) get in over their heads, as a "learning experience", then by week 7, it's too late!

It's almost impossible to recover when your kid is so frustrated they've given up on a course. And NOT ONCE during the first 6 weeks of school did this teacher reach out to give parents a heads up! A simple sentence to say "your son needs help".

We spoke on the phone and kids that have new classmates, new teachers, new grading system, and all the anxiety that can go along with those changes, have no time to adjust in some cases. So before they know it, they're in over their heads.

And there's no "collaboration" with the teacher. Which is strange, because "collaboration" is a key word used on the first page of the MHHS website. Our son's teacher would've been totally fine letting our kid sit in the back of the class like a pile of bricks, frustrated and overwhelmed, never ever letting us know what's going on! Unacceptable!!! Her reasoning was "They're almost adults, we have to teach them responsibility". Well, "almost" an adult IS NOT an adult!!! Everybody knows kids don't always tell their parents the truth!

Now, a problem that could've been easily addressed in the first 1-2 weeks, has become much more difficult in the 7th week of a symester!

It's total nonsense compared to how it was when we went to school where everything had a precise grade and was on paper and pen for parents to easily see!!! They don't even teach kids basic printing anymore, so they're 10 years old and writing like a kindergarten student!

We absolutely should have used the Catholic school system, where this lazy (E, M, A, B) grading is NOT USED!!!

Smokin R.

Currently in reference to my children's experience with Ross Glenn Elementary school....If I could give negative stars here I would....Thankful we are nearing the end of education at Ross Glenn School as this has been a nightmarish experience as a whole. The lack of diversity within the faculty leaves the school blinded to the needs of all the children there and leaves a huge gap with not all children being inclusive. Repeated complaints regarding bullying are highly ignored. Policy on this issue needs change! After years of communications this has still not happened. Victims are revictimized by the school's policies and the bullies remain unchecked and the only lesson learned here is by the victims not to trust the school staff. The parents are not informed when their child has become the bully nor are they informed when their child is a victim. Placing a victim and bully in the same room for a 'feelings discussion' only results in more victimization and the bully learns nothing. This is why law enforcement does not use this same wasted technique. Concerns of my child's wellbeing in the school are met with vain conversations and pathetic attempts at results. At the end of the day, my child does not feel safe within the school, nor do they feel safe going to a teacher or faculty member for help with any matter. The school has a consistent habit of letting the children down as a result of poor communication and rely way too heavily on anti bullying campaigns to correct the issue rather than confronting it head on and actually taking action toward the offending students. Are they just waiting for the victim to finally retaliate so they can take actions against them? Education becomes lost along the way as a result of the children becoming shelled up with feelings of no one to turn to and as a parent, I have become so frustrated with not receiving results in any matter that I would recommend firing the entire staff here and starting new with new policies and new minds. The faculty here are biased towards children who play sports or are more involved and completely overlook children who are clearly shelled up and could use someone to trust. But the trust is never validated since there is never a positive outcome for the child who feels victimized by the Ross Glenn School system. My children have come home with daily complaints of the school and regardless of how many attempts we have made as parents, there has never been a resolve since the kids continue with the same complaints. Problems without solutions should be the motto of this school. Talk about feelings all day long but never actually address them and hold anti bullying campaigns but are themselves part of the bullying problem. Someone needs to take a long hard look at the policies of this school and address them accordingly! I am most excited when my children no longer have to attend this joke of a school. The faculty of the school are more concerned about the schools reputation and would rather hide the fact they have issues from the parent and the public rather than addressing the actual issues. They deny the parents the right to know of the bad behavior but have no problem at all with communicating positive review such as awards to children. As the parents, we deserve the right to know of all the issues. Good and bad. And by not informing the parents of these issues only encourages the children to have secrets or withhold information from their parents. Is this what you want from your children? Don't allow them to attend this school until change has been made!

Lance W.

Love this organization and everything they do. Everyone is super friendly and always working hard to bring my kids new learning experiences in both academic and sports.

HIDEKI N.

2019年02月21日(水曜日)
約１０年前に・・・娘が、留学させていただきました！🎶ありがとうございます
感謝します。

Bradley V. M.

Great facility!

Tejpal G.