Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts - Jacksonville, Florida

Clorox Bleach

I feel that the middle school part is amazing. Sports, clubs, activities, etc.

But when you get to the high school, they offer nothing but AP and Dual Enrollment, which is great. But where are the activities? Most people leave because they get bored. It doesn’t feel like a high school experience and it has so much potential to be fixed.

If you come here for middle, have fun. However if you stay for high school, it’s boring. They only give activities to the seniors (which I understand because they are about to graduate). But I feel like every grade needs something too.

Brianna Davis

This school is no good. The teachers are very rude and say certain things they should not say. Ive had a teacher call me crazy before and try to send me to a counselor all because she kepy calling on me and another student when i did nothing wrong. Another teacher was very racist towards me. And other teachers are just very rude and disrespectful! Its like you have to respect them but they dont have to respect you. Also you have to be a fast pacer because all of the work they pour on you and its sad you know the school says they can work around a students pace but they cant and to be honest a lot a kids fail or get really low D’s. They pile so much work and homework on you and its too much for kids to handle. Its like buisness men and woman type work but alls im saying is dont bring your child there they are terrible and the bomb threats get out of hand!!

I Redding

This school does not appreciate its High-Schoolers. We only get appreciation in our SENIOR YEAR. I’ve never felt so miserable in my life. Everything High-Schoolers do, middle Schoolers profit off of. Everything we do the middle-schoolers have to be involved. Money that the high-Schoolers pay, goes towards middle school events (such as games, etc.) because highschool doesn’t have sports or much of anything. I’m miserable at this school bc I’m not appreciated or thought of as a High-Schooler and I’m SOOOO glad I’m graduating this year. Co’23 I’m out.

Jemil Alvarez “Derpy Doge”

Well, we do have a rare chance of fights, and we do have a monthly basis of bomb threats in this school. I don't recommend the middle school personally, but some of the teachers there are pretty chill. It's just the few teachers that are so prejudice and unfair. Don't think that the school will be a euphoric experience, because (and this is for those who came from private schools originally) everything is disordered. The security aren't that serious, threatening but not serious, and the school sells snacks probably just because they don't have a good budget. But I can tell you that the experience felt important for a person's life. We all expect change to happen at one point in life, and we experience it and we just don't like it. Your child is going to have a great MS experience if they don't cause any major drama and dilemma that could be deliterious to others' education. And make sure that your child is disciplined enough to go to that school (serious recommendation), because the kids in this school aren't that disciplined. Anyway, I hope this review helps anyone who wants to know what the actual school experience for a student is like.

Angela

I've been at Darnell since 6th grade and overall, I had many great experiences. But DO NOT take your child here if they aren't ready or prepared for college-level classes and accelerated classes. It's not called a college-preparatory school for nothing. To accel in this school, you need to do the work and make sure you do it right. This is a fast-paced school and you will need to keep up. The middle school area is where fights mostly happen, but I swear the high school area is something to be proud of. I recommend making your child start at high school since the social aspect of it is more welcoming than the middle school area.

bruh moment

The school itself is pretty ok, but the teachers and grade system as well as the academic expectations are too high and too difficult to work with. The school's got great potential if they just ease up on students a bit. Also, bomb threats.

edit 2022: i'm in therapy because of what this school did to me so i highly recommend not going here
edit again i have ptsd because of this school lol avoid

John B

First of all I will say that Darnell-Cookman is not perfect. No school is perfect. It's a public school for crying out loud! However, as a single parent with two kids at D.C. I will say that the teachers and the administrators are some of the most kind and caring people I have ever met. I transferred here from Virginia and took a gamble by putting my kids here. The school is definitely challenging, but isn't that the point of putting your kids in a magnet school? To the previous parent who made a comment regarding how difficult the school was - what exactly did you expect when you signed your kids up for a college-prep school? And the dropout rate? What dropout rate? If you actually did do research you would know that the D.C has a 100% graduation rate and is consistently ranked among the most challenging schools in America. Overall, I think there are a few things Darnell-Cookman could improve upon, but then again you could probably say that about any school. My kids are safe and happy here and that's all that matters.

Dawn M

Your child must have the ability and maturity to learn on his/her own and keep up with the fast-paced workload. Normally middle school children do not have the capacity to engage in this type of workload without feeling unbelievably stressed and pressured. The high school is not better. The workload is too extreme in my opinion. I have multiple children attend Darnell for three years. I finally will be pulling them next year, going to either private or a charter school. It just does not have the ability to provide an education for children anymore. To be quite honest, the leadership at Darnell are more worried about "how" the school looks, the numbers of the school, then the education and development of the children. My children have said for a long time that when visitors come to inspect what is going on they have to act as if nothing is wrong and are threaten if they don't go along with the act. With the increase of violence, lack of guidance and a large amount of students failing this school does not get my recommendation anymore. It is sad as they really have a great program for the medical arts. If they would only lax in the workload and just make a few adjustments in the implementation of the program, Darnell Cookman would be the great school they claim to be. Please do your research, call the school board, ask about the dropout rate or how many students request to go back to their neighborhood schools. You would be shocked. These are not students that are unintelligent, etc. Many go from 4.0 GPAs to failing. If you have another choice for you child's education, take the alternative instead of Darnell Cookman.