Research Abraham Lincoln Middle School Public Schools in Gainesville, Florida

“I am currently in 10th grade at Eastside High School and I am in the IB program. I attended Lincoln all 3 years in their Lyceum program. The teachers are great and your classmates are from all races. The diversity of Lincoln was my favorite thing about it. Some complain about the workload, but if you stay on top of your game it should be no problem. Plus, there are so many things I learned there that really helped me this year and last year at Eastside. One of the things about Lincoln that you could view as good or bad is that Lyceum and the major program have very little interaction. For me, I made many friends in the major program and didn't like how segregated our school was, but I did still manage to spend time with them.”

“The Lyceum program at Lincoln surpasses all my expectations. My daughter has been inspired by all her teachers to strive for excellence in every aspect of her education. I am amazed by all that she has learned, and I give all the credit to the dedication of the wonderful teachers at the school.”

“My child attended the Lyceum program at Lincoln and was then able to go on into the IB program at Eastside. She was able to paricipate in the orchestra and enjoyed the many events that they participated in. The program gaver her a good foundation to 'hit the ground running' when she progressed to the IB program. It also seemed that they required activities such as volunteering which helped her quite a bit.”

“'disconnect' between school employees and reality. The school does not care about parents - students - or anything other than their own bureaucracy. As a magnet school they attract some of the areas best students but other than assembling these advanced students together in one building -they do nothing else but babysit. Smart students are forced to work at a slow tedious pace, and God help the kids who aren't in the advanced program... If you have a choice between this school and allowing your children to stay home with no supervised education - I think your kids would be better off in the long run watching cartoons on TV all day. At least then they wouldn't grow up hating education.”

“I've had the opportunity to work with the faculty and administration of Lincoln Middle School for about one year and have been very pleased and inspired by the level of commitment and support as well as the positive environment of this school. The teachers are very hardworking and dedicated and the quality of programs offered to students is exceptional.”

“Let me first start off by saying that this school doesn't deserve any of the credit they get. They have three fights a day at the least, one before school starts, one in the middle of classes, and one at the end of the day. The deans don't even pay attention to all of the children at the school, only the black children and the rest of the main stream kids. The school has some racial issues. Certain teachers discriminate against the black kids and are always on their cases. I attended this school for all three of my years, and have had nothing good to say about it yet. They feed us leftovers for several days in a row. We have cock-roaches and spiders and several other insects, rats are also a problem throughout the school. The school throught is brokin down! Chairs are breaking, desks are being replaced all the time, etc.”