Donald B. Dixon-Lyle R. Smith Middle School

Posted: February 14, 2023

This school has a terrible reputation of bullying and what is worse is that the staff does nothing to stop it. My child was bullied non-stop everyday for weeks and let his teachers and administrators know and nothing was done until one day he had enough and punched his bully repeatedly. It is only then that staff decided to step in and take appropriate action. My child was suspended and law enforcement was even called, He was mandated by the juvenile and domestic relations district court to take classes for his actions and had all of his classes changed and signed a restraining order to keep away from his bully. My son was emotionally distraught and did not want to return to that school. As a parent I do not condone violence however, these are children 11-14 years of age who do not have the restraint to not act on emotion and are still learning how to deal with difficult situations in life. Unfortunately in this case there were 2 victims, my son and his bully. Needless to say my child has not been bullied since but this could have been prevented if appropriate action had been taken since the first complaint. Ever since the incident my child is now on "the radar" and is closely watched, I hope his bully learned from this as well. Parents, please teach your children to be kind and staff, listen when our children need you to advocate for them!

Posted: February 14, 2023

Posted: February 14, 2023

Posted: February 14, 2023

Posted: February 14, 2023

Posted: February 14, 2023

Posted: February 14, 2023

Posted: February 14, 2023

Posted: December 2, 2021

This school is so disappointing. First off there is an extreme amount of bullying amongst students in the school. There is no tolerance for anyone who is not part of the popular crowd. Slurs are often expressed to those that are different, and the "popular kids" often try to intimidate them by pushing them in the hallways. The kids who are considered to be the "popular kids" are disruptive in class and interrupt class with their behavior and are disrespectful to the teachers. Kids in this school are often made to check their studentvue to see what their grades are, but this has backfired and only serves as a means for kids to brag about how many classes they are failing. Also, most of the teachers accept assignments after the due date, with little to no consequence to the grade they receive. This is not fair to students who actually hand in their work on time. Students are also often permitted to re-submit work on quizzes and test to get a better grade. This makes it hard for parents to convince their kids to actually study because students feel that what is the point if they can only retake it after they fail. It seems like the school is not actually preparing them for high school, and I am afraid that it will be a hard adjustment for the kids after middle school. The communication from the Principal or front office of goings on at the school is practically non-existent. There really is not a "school community" feeling to this school. There are not many after school clubs, and for the ones that do exist, nothing was sent home or communicated to the parents. You only hear about things at the last minute, unless it is something that has to do with sports- then you are almost guaranteed to hear about it. There are some really good teachers at this school, but I fear that the lack of leadership from administrators and the lack of participation and support from the school community, will make it hard to keep the good staff. While I do not doubt from the other recent review that students who are a part of the FOCUS program have a better school experience, the experience for the students who are in the regular school program is less than stellar.

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: December 2, 2021

Posted: May 19, 2011

This is our first experience with middle school in the Stafford County public school system. Our four older children all graduated from St. Francis of Assisi Middle School and we were unsure what to expect with our fifth child's experience. He has been extremely happy and adjusted amazingly well. The choices he has academically, socially, and athletically are exceptional and he is excelling in all areas.

Posted: November 4, 2010

I love it but there are these huge things about bullying and how they won't accept it, but a girl I know always gets her locker slammed in her face and made fun of right in front of the teachers and they don't do anything about it. hypocrites!