Stewart Middle Magnet School, Tampa | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

My son came to Stewart from an elementary school in Washington state (elementary school in Washington state is K-6). It was the most wonderful little school, and everyone knew both my boys and were absolutely lovely in every way. The first graders weren’t required to do any homework, and six graders didn’t have any either unless they failed to complete that day’s work during class time. The sixth grade was fantastic and had an actual economy and market that each student worked in and transitioned through the different aspects of that economy and market. It was AMAZING. They didn’t assign letter grades as they believe and trust the NUMEROUS studies and peer-reviewed articles detailing how assigning letter grades for children below the 9th grade level contributes to low self-esteem and lack of confidence, and that letter grades are notoriously untrustworthy as indicators of future educational success. ANYWAY. We moved to Tampa and my son was districted for Stewart. We were duped by the outstanding website stating how students from all over the county wait to get into their school; how it’s STEM program is second to none; how advanced their ideology is (yet they still assign letter grades). Our first disappointment came when Henry’s math/exploring tech class was reduced to two hours of math worksheets and a teacger that not onl DID NOT TEACH, but also didn’t even touch on anything relative to “exploring tech.” Nevertheless, we pressed onward. My son tried out for the soccer team and made it, the only sixth grader to make the game team and not just the practice squad. But upon picking up from school early one day for a doctor’s appointment, I was made aware that they had no grades from his former school. This was completely false as I had documentation from his previous school that they had faxed his grades and there was confirmation the faxes had been received. Apparently, the grades they sent weren’t “good enough.” Excuse me? Well, apparently because they weren’t letter grades-WHICH HIS PRIOR SCHOOL DID NOT ASSIGN-they didn’t suffice. So I had his previous school send YET ANOTHER fax with more information, including a statement that Henry was on or above grade level which would be EQUIVALENT to a C or better (they insisted on a letter grade so they got one). Still not good enough. I contacted the superintendent and I’m still waiting on resolution to this.

All in all, this school’s administration (other than Dr. Weiss who is wonderful) is inept and bases their entire bureaucracy on the archaic ideology of letter grades and they will allow that to EXCLUDE A CHILD FROM EXERCISE AND TEAM SPORTS if they came from a school that doesn’t conform to their nonsensical rules. How asinine, right? DO NOT send your child here for their supposedly excellent STEM program: you’ll be lucky if they ever get an educator that actually participates in the curriculum. My son had videos from his classes where students are sleeping, playing on their phones, and fighting with one another. It’s a cesspool, truly.

Listen, this school seems bad the beginning you go there, but over time the school gets better, every school as their weak spots, and good spots. They do have good computers, including their three/four rooms filled with decent computers, no I ain’t talking about gaming PCs. For god’s sake, it’s a school, they don’t want children running around and stealing their PC’s that are over $1,000. Give the school a chance, for a year or two. And yes, there is students who do get away with things, but there are reasons and why. Including, there was some bad teachers last year, and some great teachers. Every school has them. Also, you’ll meet great people there, and find new genre of friends, so why hate the school? Because of kids reviewing saying the school is bad? Which I bet 75% of these reviews are kids acting as their parents. Give it a chance, don’t just think from the reviews.

Please note, I am a child. Not a Parent, I went here myself. I know how the school is.

Nope. The magnet program is ok, but, some courses are misleading. Courses such as culinary, mostly only teach theory, barely getting hands on. The people at this school are rowdy, and dare I say, “slow”. Even in the “advanced” courses, there’s a low chance of finding a class where everyone is advanced and well behaved. The teachers are decent most of the time, but some teachers are just here to stand around. Anyway, I wanted to go to Orange Grove anyway, and probably would’ve gotten in if it hadn’t been for my mother insisting I place a “smart” school as my first choice. Here you will find the best and the worst in humanity. Glad it’s my last year here since I won’t have to return.