Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Merritt Island

Category	Rating	Details
Test Scores	8/10	The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 Florida Assessment of Student Thinking data from Florida Department of Education, and using 2025 Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking data from Florida Department of Education.
Student Growth	6/10	The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student growth data from Florida Department of Education.

Posted: May 7, 2025

Great experience for both of my children and for myself as a parent. Lots of support, fun activities, school pride.

Posted: May 7, 2025

Posted: March 5, 2025

The school needs to focus more on education rather than punishment. My student is A/B honor roll, overall a great kid, but is given frequent lunch detentions without notifying/ communicating with the parents. Over things that were easily solved problems and did not deserve a punishment. When you do reach out to discuss, principle trine is very difficult to get a hold of and the vice principal harris is arrogant and the conversation does not go anywhere. The rules are very strict, feels more like a prison than a school.

Posted: March 5, 2025

Posted: March 4, 2025

This school makes me feel autistic and depressed.

Posted: March 4, 2025

Posted: April 8, 2024

Jefferson Middle School is a place that many students dread going to every day. From the moment you walk through the doors, you are greeted with a sense of unease and dread. The hallways are always crowded and chaotic, with students pushing and shoving their way through the throng.

The classrooms are no better. They are cramped and stuffy, with outdated textbooks and technology that barely works. The teachers are often disinterested and unmotivated, making it difficult to learn anything of substance. The curriculum is lackluster and uninspiring, leaving students feeling bored and unchallenged.
Bullying is rampant at Jefferson Middle School, with students constantly teasing and tormenting their peers. The administration turns a blind eye to the harassment, failing to take any meaningful action to stop it. This toxic environment creates a sense of fear and anxiety among the student body, making it difficult to focus on their studies. The facilities at Jefferson Middle School are in disrepair, with leaky ceilings, broken lockers, and outdated restrooms. The school lacks basic amenities, such as a functioning gymnasium and cafeteria, forcing students to make do with subpar facilities.
Overall, Jefferson Middle School is a dismal and depressing place. It fails to provide a safe and supportive environment for its students, making it difficult for them to excel academically. Until significant changes are made to improve the schools infrastructure, curriculum, and culture, Jefferson Middle School will continue to be a place of misery and despair for its students.

Posted: April 8, 2024

Posted: March 22, 2024

Students are as they will be. Teachers are rude. They send you to the principals office even when you were the one that was getting bullied. What did the bully get? Nothing.

Posted: March 22, 2024

Posted: October 27, 2023

The principal is a bully who has created hostile learning/work environment. Students are not eager to learn and are highly disrespectful. The teachers here are kind, knowledgeable, and experienced. The teachers are the saving grace for this school.

Posted: October 27, 2023

Posted: November 14, 2022

i don't feel safe here i get many threats the children here at Jefferson are unbelievable the dress code is so stupid why in the world can we wear shorts while having our butts hanging out but we cant wear jeans that are ripped bellow the knee i mean seriously it freaking stupid i 100% would never and will never recommend this school ever

Posted: May 25, 2021

I have had problems the first week of 2020 school year, and continues to this day. The teachers give referrals instead of teaching, give them for any reason, i mean any. We are moving to get them out of Jefferson for 2021 2022 yr. Awful leadership

Posted: November 26, 2019

My daughter had a situation with sexual comments from the boys to her and I notified the principle and the Dean corrected this right away. Also opening the door for my daughter to come speak with him or anyone in authority to talk about anything like this or any situation that comes up. I think that the administration of this school cares about each child and takes matters like this serious and I am glad to know that she feels safe at Jefferson middle now that the problem is being resolved

Posted: November 26, 2019

This is a school that takes each childs problem or situation they may have and talks openly with them and creates a safe environment for them to be able to talk about things that are not appropriate and the administration effectively makes them feel supported and teaches them how to deal with difficulties they may encounter

Posted: November 25, 2019

The bullying between girls is not noticed or corrected

Posted: November 25, 2019

Not good so far.. we will see what the future holds it might be home schooling

Posted: January 7, 2016

The school invites parents to get involved. Always available to discuss anything going on. Miss Tina know everything that is going on and can point me in the right direction every time.

Posted: January 7, 2016

We moved here from Virginia. This school is by far the best we have attended. It's a good mix of students, and the teachers are always available! My 8th grader loves it here. We will miss it next year as he moves on to Merritt Island high school. This school has a nice family feel to it. I stay involved with my son's education, and the school invites parents to take part. I think you get out of it what you put into it. By far a great experience. Thanks to all!

Posted: November 6, 2015

We are a military family that moved to the area last year. We chose Jefferson as it had good reviews and ratings. They were so wrong. My 8th grader had an awful time. She had come from Dods schools and always went to school with other military kids who are for the most part respectful good kids with involved parents. We did not find this at Jefferson. My daughter has alays been an outgoing, well liked child, I didnt see her having a problem starting this school.

First and foremost we found the kids to be way more advanced. Girls talking about getting drunk, spending th night at boys houses, etc. it seemed the less clothes they wore, the more popular they were. My daughter was so uncomfortable around them. They were so rude also, making comments like, what are you looking at freak, if she looked their way. She thought she found a friend but found this girl found joy in pretending to be her friend while getting other girls to bully her. She was getting threats of getting beat up at school and was crying every night begging me to not send her back there. Not only that, but she was doing awful with grades which she had never done before. There was also threats of all kinds, kids beating each other up, etc. The kids there do not seem to have morals or parent involvement. Its sad.

I had enough. I pulled her and enrolled her in Merritt Island Christian school. Let me tell you, best choice I ever made. The kids at that school have morals, they are actually nice to one another. But thats a review for that school....

I would never send my child to Jefferson if I had known. By far the worse students i have ever encountered.

Posted: August 30, 2015

I sadly attended this school in 2004. It was THE WORST SCHOOL EVER. I was bullied because of my faith and the students made a petition for me to remove my hijab. The female gym teacher was HORRIBLE. she would chase people in golf carts if they didn't run fast enough and favored other students. Almost every other student wore a confederate flag t shirt. Many teachers favorited certain students and nothing was ever done about it. I'm married with children and this school still is in my memory as the worst school ever. Bad bad bad.

Posted: April 5, 2015

I'm currently a student at Jefferson and it is by far one of the worst schools i have attended. The teachers are very rude and frighten some of the other students. (I had one teacher practically scream at a student multiple times. Yes, he was misbehaving but that does not warrant that kind of response.) They also hand out punishments for vacuous reasons ( A personal friend of mine was sitting at lunch with her boyfriend and their elbows were touching and they received a detention for breaking the "no touching" rule.) And while some students are being punished for stupid things other students who are doing things as serious as bullying others receive no disciplining. The area is also not friendly which brings about very inappropriate actions among students such as doing drugs and fighting. The gym coaches there are also slightly sadistic. If they find you not paying attention they make you do a mile of lunges around the track, a couple of times they chased some students around the track in golf carts because they were jogging too slow. All in all this place is like a living hell, I wouldn't recommend attending this school.

Posted: January 1, 2015

i go to jefferson and its awful. a majority of the students are mean and the dean punishes people for stupid reasons (a girl in our school dyed the tips of her hair and she made her wash all of it out). im in the galileo program, but its not even difficult. one of my teachers constantly misplaces our work and we spend a majority of their class talking to each other without actually doing anything. the schools here must be really bad because i went to mila and that was even worse.

Posted: September 15, 2014

We have had 5 children attend JMS over the recent years and have been impressed with the quality of this school, including: academic focus of the faculty; excellence of the art/music program; friendliness of the administrative staff; facilities; and level of parental involvement.

Posted: April 28, 2014

My daughter is graduating this year from JMS and it's been a tremendous experience for her. She is in the Galileo program and she was fortunate to have the same teachers for Math, Science, English and History for 2 years. The Galileo program is a very challenging program but it really prepared her for MIHS. Truly the teachers are fantastic at JMS!

Posted: April 27, 2014

I have a daughter that has attendef TJM for several years and us graduating this year. Some of the teachers have been phenominal while others have neen medioaker... the education she has received has been ok, but wish it could have been better.

Posted: May 7, 2013

I am so proud that my son was able to attend such a wonderful middle school. The school was quite proactive on communication with parents and provided many extra curricular activities that promotes soaial growth for a student at this age.

Posted: May 5, 2013

I've been working at Jefferson for 2 years as an ESE support staff member. The staff at Jefferson is very caring and always strives to do what is best for students. There are a lot of extracurricular activities for the students, and academically there are classes offered both for students who need opportunities for enrichment and for remediation. The administration and staff both strive to improve parent/school communication. My children are grown, but I would be happy to have them attend Jefferson Middle School.

Posted: April 30, 2013

I have worked at Jefferson for many years and consider it the best school I've ever worked in. The student body is a great group of kids, the parent organization active and supportive and the administration encouraging of its teachers. For high achieving students we offer the Galileo program that addresses the curriculum in ways that appeal to students who are gifted. Our band and chorus regularly receive superiors at competition, and we have many extra-curricular programs outside of the school day. If we were zoned for this area, this is the school I would put my own kids in.

Posted: April 30, 2013

I have had three students go through Jefferson am am very proud of the fact that they still consider themselves Statesmen. It is an excellent middle school that prepares the students to be ready for high school. I love how friendly the front office is and now that we have Edline to look at - the teachers are very easy to reach. I feel the best part of the school is how the teachers work together in teams. When I had a question, I can call one teacher and meet with all four. Not all schools do that and I found it very helpful. I also feel the school is very safe because when my son was there he would tell me he feels the resource officer does a good job.

Posted: April 30, 2013

I love technology and the social media that allows us instant information; however, I take exception when the information shared is not accurate. If you are interested in Merritt Island and coming to Jefferson I ask that you please talk to the parents on Merritt Island. We have an excellent parent organization with lots of parents who would be very happy to talk to anyone about their experiences at Jefferson. To see my school rated so low because of 12 unhappy parents is unsettling. I also, as the principal, would love to talk to anyone interested in my school. I have an open door policy and talk to anyone who come into the school. Thank you for considering that 12 people might not give an accurate representation of an organization the serves over 650 students a year.

Posted: April 30, 2013

My child is zoned for a different school and attends Jefferson as an out-of-area student. I have a nephew that attends as well. We have had no problems, it is a great school. It appears that most of the bad comments/ratings are left by parents that have children with discipline problems.

Posted: April 30, 2013

Thomas Jefferson Middle School is an excellent school. My daughter was part of the Principal Leadership academy, Cheerleading and much more. they have many events for the kids to participate in .. Teachers are great and the Dean keeps the school safe and ship shape

Posted: April 30, 2013

I have been very happy with this school. All of my son's teachers are very involved in his education and reach out to communicate with me. The principal is very involved in nurturing this difficult adolescent age and is also very involved in the community at large as well. The parent organization provides great support to the school as well. I believe my son is getting a great education.

Posted: March 3, 2013

Not the best school in Merritt island. My daughters friend was locked in a bathroom at JMS. I do not reccomend this school

Posted: August 11, 2012

Registration Day was made very simple for both parents and students. I am looking forward to a new year at Jefferson.

Posted: July 20, 2012

Horrible school...very few teachers care about students, the Assistant Principal is a joke (I feel bad for her children), and the Principal is either lazy or incompetent because she NEVER responds to issues, she'd rather sick her little Asst. Principal with no brains or compassion to deal with your issues. Teachers bully children and allow other children to bully each other...my child got into trouble for defending a child who was so badly bullied he told my son he wanted to hurt himself...this school needs a lot of training for staff, and their front office needs an attitude adjustment. School nurse - got her degree out of a crackerjack box or something because she's not too swift. Learning- a joke, moved my son here from up north and he was re-learning everything from 5th and 6th grade in 7th and 8th. After the experience we have had with Merritt Island schools (Jefferson & Tropical), we decided to send our children to school out of this town...I'd rather take a long drive than use this town's schools...

Posted: December 5, 2011

This school has to be the worst school in the area. The teachers bully the kids. The teachers expect the hormone raging, puberty stage teenagers to have more control than the teachers do. The Dean of Students is the biggest bully of all. She enjoys belittling and pushing students around. If there was another option for public school in Merritt Island, we would be there. I wish more parents could stand together and be heard, but we all know that will never happen. Considering a bus driver can beat up a parent and still drive a bus in the county, could we really expect the county to do anything but support a bully for a Dean.

Posted: August 9, 2011

jms is a very bad school the only reson that everyone gose thar is that is the only middle school in merritt island i went thar and i did not get help from any teathers all the school cairs bout is fcat scors i will never sind my kids to this school.and i dont think any one can say something good bout this school.

Posted: July 18, 2011

Horrible school - indifferent teachers, loads of mistakes in grades, edline is non-existing, unfriendly front office, ast. principal a jerk, not sure how they got such a good rating. I, parent of a 14 yr old, am looking elsewhere to place my child. Very mediocre learning experience.

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Thomas Jefferson Middle School

Merritt Island, FL 32952

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Thomas Jefferson Middle School

Merritt Island, FL 32952

School Ratings

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