Hi! Hello! Draper Park Middle School, in the grand scheme of things, is an awesome school. I love being at this school. However, like anything, it does have it’s flaws. That is what we will discuss in this review.

Experience

The experience of coming to DPMS every day is alright. Regardless of what a great school this is, it’s still school. I don’t know many people that are genuinely excited to go to school. But, for those who do, it is your average experience. You have 6 periods, each 61 minutes long, and a 30 minute lunch. There have definitely been some things and choices made by the staff at this school that tarnish my overall view of it, but overall the experience is a solid 7/10.

Teachers

This is where the line starts to branch off a little bit. DPMS uses a team system, where each grade is divided into groups with different core class teachers for each group. I’m personally NOT A FAN of this system, because it reduces your likelihood of having classes with friends. The overall probability of having classes with friends you made the year before makes this a little bit of a let down for me. A lot of schools use this system at this point, but I don’t love it. Also, the quality of teachers are a bit unbalanced as well. The teachers on one team may not be as good as the teachers on another team. To prove this, in my opinion, 6th Grade’s Team Balder is the absolute best team in the school because of it’s teachers. They have always made class fun because of their cool and kind nature. It is unfortunate that people who don’t land a spot on certain teams have to miss out on all the best teachers. I rate this system a 3/10, but the teachers an average of 8.5/10.

Food and Lunch

A stupidly controversial subject, lunch is decent at DPMS. The quality of food, as you expect, is mediocre at best. But, it is free. Now the real let down, the lunch times themselves. Lunch at DPMS is divided into 3 times: A, B, and C. In years past, A has been for 6th Grade, B for 7th, and C for 8th. However, a change has recently been made to mix 7th and 8th Graders. So, some 7th Graders may have B lunch, and others may have C. In my opinion, this is the most disappointing thing about DPMS. I have several friends in 7th Grade, and I feel like I shouldn’t have to worry about what lunch they have and what I have. Plus, it would me much simpler to just use the classic system they always have. Plus, they have made the decision in the past to randomly move some people to other lunches, so I have had to change my lunch to have it with any of my friends. As a result, I have had to change my lunch time TWICE. This makes lunch for me a 2/10.

Classwork

The actual WORK at school is not too bad. Depending on what teacher you have, you may have worse work to do, but you usually do not have homework in any class except for math. Plain and simple, classwork is a 9/10.

Final Thoughts

I love school at DPMS. Overall, it is actually a great school. For me, that isn’t a very high bar, but it is nice to go to a good school, because you have to go to school regardless. I’m not a huge fan of some of the choices the staff have made here, like changes to lunch, but it’s okay. Overall, this school is a 7.5/10 for me, which makes it easily the best school I’ve ever been to.