Ernest Lawrence Middle School in Burbank, California

“I'm a Magnet kid, and I love the school. THe teachers are really great, and the projects are fun and unorthodox (as in they're unique). Good school, great friends too. I do have to admit the regular program is really bad, but the magnet is great. I dunno bout honors, but Gifted is very good.”
This review was posted by a student.

“I'm a student here at Ernest Lawrence Middle School. A first year 6th grader and already on the first day of school i felt very pleased with everyone welcoming me. After the first week have finished i already knew that this school was right. Even though it's hard at least i have some very nice teachers and staff that will always help us get through our school. All we need to do as students is to keep trying and never e afraid to ask for help. School is fun and this will school will always be there to support you. They have so many cool teachers and activities. They plan and work together. All their efforts helps this school even better. I wish Middle School Never ends. It's tough but someone will always be there for you when you need them to be there. This school is the best!!!!!!!!”
This review was posted by a student.

“LOVE this school, I think is the BEST of all Chatsworth”
This review was posted by a parent.

“GREAT SCHOOL.. My daughter is here since 6 grade, for these last two years she has improved and learn so much that she is an Honors student, yes I know teachers give them lots of homework and projects to do at home with the PARENTS help which I don't seem is a problem with it, because that's why we are there PARENTS we should help with school stuff and more we as parents have more responsibilities with OUR children than the teachers. Counselors and Principal are GREAT! I have no complain at all from this school I am so happy that my daughter will graduate from this school that now my 6 grade son is coming here as well. And I know he will be an honors student too, because this school is Great. Oh did I mention that I drive 60miles EVERYDAY so they can come to this school.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Very disappointing magnet program, gifted education is equated with more mundane work instead of interesting challenges, all of the interesting projects are done at home with parents' guidance.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Very great school! Ive attended this school for 3 years, this being my third. Im in the Honors program and what others say about the school only caring about the Magnet is WRONG. Infact, almost all of the honors teachers, as well as all the other teachers on campus are great. If they arent nice, they are still inspirational and great teachers. All of my teachers have been and are great, some extremely strict but they still teach you a lot and help as much as possible. GO LMS!”
This review was posted by a student.

“I was very excited to send my child, but after 3 years passed and she is graduating fro LMS. I was disappointing of many teachers attitude toward to students. Many teahers lose students homework, and telling students the class is too big to teach. Why should she has been teacher in first place??? My daughter was very discouraged to study or submite her project. Councelor? what do they do? I felt most of the time if students have problem, it's always has been students fault, not school.... Please listen more students voices!!! Please be a educator!!!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“This school has it's great benefits. Sure, it may not be the best school in Los Angeles, but it's a great place to make something out of yourself. I can tell you myself, i have learned so mich at Lawrence, and I have had some very great experience. Let me point out that it's not the schools fault because some students do not want to talk about their issues.”
This review was posted by a student.

“First of all let me start by saying information is key, and this is where Lawence Middle School is lacking. They have a web site available that parents can access and track their childs progress yet not all teachers participate. I have received my childs progress report with grades that were not favorable but I have never received a call from any teacher alerting me of a potential problem until it was too late and the damage was done.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Leadership for special ed students is sorely lacking especially during the IEP process. As parents we were 'told' what to do - there was no give and take in the process and we were not treated as 'equals.' The IEP team never met our child but had 'all the answers' on what was best for him/her. Our opinions, ideas, suggestions were completely disregarded and we were expected to follow along with all the LAUSD recommendations.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I go to Lawrence Middle and in the Magnet program it is great! The school may be hard, unperfect, but who cares? These things help us in life. With concerened teachers and a saftey net of our councilers, there's no telling what a great future we'll all have. There are great teachers and you have to know them as a student to actaully appreciate them. The classes are great and the extracurricular activities are awesome-especially math club. Parents are aways involved with flyers, newsletters and phonecalls. Don't blame the school, blame the students if you are not happy. It is a students reponsiblity for telling the parents the info. Go Lawrence Lions!”
This review was posted by a student.

“I think that this school was excellent. the teachers were good and concerned about my child's grades even though my child is an 'A' student.”
This review was posted by a student.

“I love Lawrence Magnet. The teachers are wonderful. They give the right amount of homework. They are all interested in my child's intellectual, social, and emotional development. I highly reccomend this school to any parent and child who is interested in an excellent education.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Lawrence puts great emphasis on success for all students. While teachers may differ on their teaching techniques, all have one goal in mind- a child's achievement. Prin. Rosas is approachable and pro-active. Every school has its own issues and concerns, and Lawrence is no exception. Students are only in classes receiving instruction for less than 6 hours a day. We, as parents, have them far longer each week. The school is not there to provide surrogate parenting. Students must come ready to work, to achieve, and succeed- and that starts at home, not when they begin school each day. While Lawrence is not perfect, the vast majority of students are doing great, and appreciate the safe and courteous atmosphere promoted by the staff and administration.”
This review was posted by a teacher.

“This is my child's first year at LMS Magnet. I find that the teachers does not have or want any communications with parents. We were told that if your child get an A or B, do not try to meet with their teacher's since they need time to spent with student's that have Cs & Ds. That is not what I expect from LAUSD. Of the two teachers that I have communications with, only one was helpful in explaining with suggestions while the other just handled me a printout of my child's scores from his class with not explanation what so ever. Administration was no help either.”
This review was posted by a staff.

“It's a great school! There are a lot of good things about this school. I, as a former student of Lawrence enjoyed it there. I was in the gifted/highly gifted magnet program. I struggled at first because it was very difficult for me to get used to, but in 7th grade I did better.”
This review was posted by a former student.

“Good school! Great academic program! Love it!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“This school has programs for highly gifted students, but has no support for the average student. There are barely any electives to choose from. It is disheartening.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My son graduated from the Magnet in 2004. The curriculum was challenging--homework was often a burden. I appreciated that the school segregates 6th graders at PE and gives them a month or so to get used to the schedule of changing classes and finding lunch lines by letting them out a little early those first weeks. The Magnet coordinator has just changed and while we loved the previous coordinator, the new one, Ms. Vallejo (former English teacher in the program) will do a great job. Homeroom teachers stay with the kids for all 3 years, offering stability. Even some teachers will have the same students for 2 years (social studies) so there are no gaps in their learning. Phenomenal teachers (award winning/recognized) in science and math. Great in-magnet electives. Phenomenal website and communication from both the school and the magnet including monthly nighttime meetings. Would love my daughter to go here.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Lawrence is a really good school. Parents are really involved in the school and create a positive environment for everyone. Teachers have a lot of support for students. The principal, Mr. Rosas was a doer. He was respectful and made things happen. Im not sure about now but the arts programs were very strong a few years back.”
This review was posted by a teacher.

“Extracurricular activities: I would like to see more that are actually enforced. My child signed up for a class that never did anything.... Academics: Recently, my child was accepted to the magnet program offered at Lawrence, I hope this years teacher/student learning environment will be satifactory.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“After having my child in Lawrence for 6th grade, we could not wait to pull her out. I hear many teachers complain about not getting respect from their student's. We also found that in order to speak to our child's councler, we had to go into the office, they didn't seem to return phone calls. What a mess!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“the magnet program is HIGHLY recommended.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Total minority school. Teachers are great. Very over crowded. Must carry around heavy back packs during most of day. Unable to utilize lockers because of safty issues.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Our experience at Lawrence Middle School for our son's first year there has been quite disappointing compared to when our daughter attended six years ago. The most difficult part of this year (7th grade)has been the amount of bullying going on plus some inappropriate comments from teachers. I agree with the parent said that you must act with respect to receive it. Some of the teachers say very inappropriate things which result in inappropriate attitudes from the students towards them and other authority figures. In addition, the amount of 'reverse racism' that goes on in the school towards Caucasians is intolerable! Our son had his paperwork messed up by LAUSD this first year and as a result did not make it into the magnet program. For next year, he's in the magnet program and we are hopeful that much of this will improve; however, that will only mean control in the classroom!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I have a child that is attending L.M.School for the first time this year. My child has been experiencing difficulty with some teachers displaying inappropiate verbal behavior. Some of the teachers are saying words that are not curriculum related. Students are there to learn from role models. If a teacher is expected to gain respect from the students then you have to give respect, and cursing at students will not gain respect. I will be contacting the principal personally to address this issue. This is not the first time this issue had been addressed. Please ask your child if they are experiencing any profanity situations from teachers.”
This review was posted by a teacher.

“Unfortunately this school cares only about the kids that are in the magnet program. After speaking to my childs teachers only but a few of them decided to meet me, they already have made up their minds that these kids in the lower classes are not going to do well and pass anyway, so why bother putting in the effort to help them. It's sad, but bottom line is this school is not worth for your child to go to. I should have never kept my daughter in this school till 8th grade. It was not worth it. The counselors were not much help either.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My daughter has attended Lawrence 8th grade year only. I tried several times to schedule parent/teacher conferences after a very dissapointing report card I received from my daughter. It took 8 calls with no return calls from the school (over 2 months period of time) as well as a call to District A offices until I finally had a response. Unfortunatley, by this time another report card had come out and my daughter did worse. We have both been working hard to get her grades up but I do not recommed this school to anyone.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I go to Lawrence Middle School and I am in the magnet program. At the beginning of the school year, the teachers had given us loads of homework to do, it would take me hours to complete them but after I'd talk to my friends form the other middle schools, I could see that all that work payed off. The staff at L.M.S couldn't be friendlier, they are always there to help. The student service clubs are great, I am currently in the Atoms service club and it is awsome. We are able to do things that other kids enjoy doing, like doing an end of the year dance, this school is involved in everything and will help you if you have any problems. The teahcers are kind and teach you things that you would have never known. I have no regrets coming to L.M.S, this is a great school.”
This review was posted by a student.

“This is my child's second year in attendence. I am incredibly disappointed time and again with the outcome of any issue that has come up. Whether teacher or counselor related. My main goal now is to have my child attend a different school.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My experience with this school was horrible. There was very little communication from the teachers and staff when I received my childs progress report and had questions about it. My child will not be returning to this school.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“We have a magnet student graduating this year from Lawrence. Mrs. Boone, the magnet coordinator, is wonderful and most of the instructors have been involved and caring. I have recommended the school to many parents with upcoming magnet children.”
This review was posted by a parent.