A+ Elementary Schools

Each year, parents are asked to evaluate the Montgomery County Public Schools their children attend.  Here are the 15 elementary schools in the Bethesda area receiving the highest marks in the survey

By Kim Fernandez

Bethesda

Bradley Hills
397 students, 24 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Sandra Reece, principal at Bradley Hills Elementary School, is quick to give credit when asked why parents love her school so much.

“Part of the reason we have a successful school is the level of parental involvement,” Reece says. “We have a lot of parents here who do un-fun things to help us. They volunteer an hour here or there, making copies for teachers, cutting things out, supervising children before school in the mornings. These are very low-visibility kinds of things. But parents are just as committed to coming in and being that kind of resource as they are to volunteering in the classroom.”

That, she says, allows the school’s teachers to concentrate on things besides paperwork and filing. And for their part, teachers put an emphasis on communicating with families: the school participates with schoolnotes.com, which allows them to send home daily assignments, notes and reminders via e-mail. “Parents can log on from anywhere and see what their children are doing,” says Reece. “It gives the parents a chance to be connected.”

That’s especially important for the youngest students, who are often unresponsive to the perpetual “what did you do today” conversation over dinner. “Kindergarteners will tell you they played at recess or they don’t remember what they did,” says Reece. “The system makes it easy for us to tell parents that they had an assembly or they went out looking at leaves. Then, it’s easy to weave that into the conversation for the evening and draw out what the child’s impression was of that day, and to really engage them about school.”

Parents give Reece much of the credit for the school’s popularity.

“She’s a fabulous principal,” says Beth D’Arcy, whose fourth child will follow her siblings to Bradley Hills in the fall. “She’s there to greet the kids every day at the curb, in every kind of weather.”

D’Arcy says that while Reece has made changes in her first few years at the school, its strong teaching staff has always been impressive. “I can honestly say I’ve liked every teacher we’ve had,” she says.

Burning Tree
503 students, 34 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Parents at Burning Tree Elementary hear about schools that are not welcoming to parents, but they have no idea what that is like. “They really encourage parents to get involved,” says Olivia Lai, parent of a fourth grader and president of the school’s PTA. “Parents can get into the classroom pretty much anytime. Everyone there feels like education is a real partnership between the parents and the staff.”

Because of that, parents stay busy organizing a host of special activities and events. Burning Tree’s students have enjoyed a circus-themed math day, with booths that featured special giveaways for solving math problems, a science fair with judges from the National Academy of Sciences and an international night. With a large international population at the school, the night featured costumes, food and traditions from more than 50 countries.

“It’s really nice for my children to be in classes with kids from all over the world,” says Lai. “They’re getting a fantastic education.”

The school’s teachers place a lot of emphasis on public speaking, and children are encouraged to present everything from book reports to plays in front of their classmates. One class this year presented their own version of a wax museum, with children dressed as their favorite historical figures, offering verbal presentations on those people. Parents were invited and the day was popular with both families and students.

“We’re constantly asking them to talk about what they’re reading, what they’re thinking, and to solve problems,” says Principal Helen Chaset. “We give them a lot of practice talking. And the teachers are very good at creating motivating kinds of group experiences where the kids get up in front of others to speak.”

Carderock
312 students, 20 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Children at Carderock Springs can anticipate learning everything on the county’s official curriculum to be sure, but they also spend a lot of time talking about values and what it means to be a decent person in society.

“The guidance counselor and the principal have monthly Pillars of Ethics,” says PTA President Maxine Schnitzer. “Every month, we focus on a different pillar. The counselor goes into the classrooms and has weekly sessions to talk with the children about respect: What does it mean to have respect? How can we model respectful behavior? They do a lot of role-playing: When we start talking out of turn, is that respectful behavior? We’re constantly meeting with the children and talking about what it means to be respectful, what it means to be a good friend, what it means to be loyal, what it means to be honest.”

The school also places a strong emphasis on writing skills—starting in first grade, students are required to produce pieces of independent writing, whether in the form of poetry, haiku or narrative. Parents volunteer in the classroom to provide one-on-one support for these activities, helping children edit and perfect pieces that teachers have reviewed.

Principal Susan MacLaughlin says she spent a good bit of the summer before her first year at the school meeting with parents to find out what they liked and what changes needed to be made. She’s led Carderock Springs for three years now, and continues to hold those meetings and make changes based on parents’ input.

One of those changes was to institute a daily homework e-mail that goes to parents of children in grades three through five. It outlines the day’s homework along with upcoming projects and other information. “Communication is important,” says MacLaughlin. “Parents know what’s going on and they can help support their children.”

Westbrook
318 students, 27 classroom teachers, grades K-5

“We are one of the few elementary schools in the county that is a true neighborhood school,” says PTA President Renee Kannapell of Westbrook Elementary. “Parents love that fact. Almost all of the children can walk to school and so a lot of parents see each other on a daily basis.

“The teachers are well-supplied and they have a lot of support from our principal,” she says. “They do some amazing programs.”

The programs include a fourth-grade unit about the Chesapeake Bay during which students visit St. Mary’s City, talk about the watershed and ways to improve its health, and complete hands-on experiments and projects.

Westbrook welcomes visits from Bethesda’s Imagination Stage for special drama activities. The school also participates in the Mad Science program, which offers participatory science activities and unique science equipment to its students. Kids take part in after-school classes in everything from photography, cartooning and claymation to group piano lessons and tae kwon do instruction.

Principal John Ewald says he tries to be visible in the school’s halls. He invites parents to a monthly coffee to talk, and holds monthly student powwows, where he asks the children how they’re doing and what the school might change to make their lives easier. “I work to respond to all phone calls and e-mails within 24 hours, and to be as transparent and accessible as possible for staff, parents and students,” he says.

“It’s a very unique school,” says Kannapell, who has three children there in the first, third and fourth grades. “It’s going to be very sad for me, and probably for my son as well, to move on after next year.”

Wyngate
523 students, 33 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Principal Barbara Leister laughs while talking about her leadership style. “I guess if you asked parents, you’d hear that I’m very direct,” she says. “But as a parent and a grandparent, I don’t ever want to hear about things last. So I work to keep them informed.” She does that through a biweekly school newsletter and by encouraging the teaching staff to send home similar documents once a month.

Every spring, Leister spends eight days meeting with parents to talk about any concerns they have. And she’s careful to spend much of her time walking the school’s halls and talking to students about what they do and don’t enjoy in school.  “I try to wear the shoes of the parent or the child or the teacher whenever they’re in my office and try to see the school from their point of view,” she says.

Leister clearly is on to something. The readers of Bethesda Magazine voted her “Best Elementary School Principal” in the January/February issue.

Parents say that Wyngate’s teachers are so accessible and so responsive to e-mails and phone calls that they often forget to mention that—they just take it for granted. “I always get an answer,” says parent Tacha Steimer. “I e-mailed a teacher one morning with a question and got an answer back before school even started.”

Beyond that, Steimer says, their evident happiness with the school carries over to students, who pick up on their good attitudes and emulate them. “The teachers are really dedicated,” she says. “They want to teach there. They like each other—it’s very collegial in the school. They’re there because they want to be there, period.”

Steimer says that beyond being an excellent school from an academic perspective, Wyngate also has a great sense of community. “You go for pick-up and it’s like social hour,” she says. “You can’t get out of there for 30 minutes, but that’s in a very good way.”

Chevy Chase

North Chevy Chase
306 students, 24 classroom teachers, grades 3-6

Students entering North Chevy Chase Elementary School in the morning had better be ready to greet Principal Gary Bartee, and do so while looking him in the eye in a respectful manner.

Bartee greets each student every morning, says PTA President Eden Durbin, and if the kids don’t look him in the eye, he’ll bring them back to do it again. “He’s really checking in with them,” she says. “He’s looking to see if they’re ready to learn that day, if they’re in a good place to start the day.

“A friend of mine had a fourth grader in a very anxious patch this year,” she continues. “Mr. Bartee would shake the child’s hand every morning, look him right in the eye and check in with him. If he could tell the child was on shaky ground, he’d have the counselor right there and they’d start the day by talking things out and figuring out where the anxieties were.”

For his part, Bartee says it’s a practice he started 12 years ago and finds extremely helpful in shaping the day. “You can miss people sometimes,” he says. “They may be the stars academically. It might be the kid who’s just quiet, doing everything he’s supposed to do every day [who] people don’t notice. I don’t ever want to miss one child.”

Each student takes advantage of special programs designed to enhance learning through hands-on activities. Fifth graders worked with senior citizens this year to present their life stories, and parents were invited to come hear the final stories being presented.

“One parent told me recently that they thought this was a happy place,” says Durbin. “Teachers are really committed to that. The children feel like it’s a happy, safe place for them. And it’s fun!”

Somerset
374 students, 27 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Fourth graders at Somerset Elementary School spent a good part of this year’s science class time learning about the Chesapeake Bay and its environmental health. As part of that, they learned about the impact plastic grocery bags have on the bay when they’re not disposed of properly.

When it came time to choose their service project for the year, the decision was a no-brainer. To help take some of their community’s plastic bags out of circulation and out of the watershed, the students worked together to order and sell 500 reusable fabric shopping bags printed with the school logo.

All students at Somerset participate in a service learning project that combines community involvement with lessons learned in school. First graders work with staff at the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda to provide photo frames, door hangers and other craft items to families there. Second graders not only collect food for the Manna Food Center, but deliver the food and stock the shelves themselves—all while using their collections to enhance lessons on categorization and graphing.

“I feel like it’s a very warm place,” says PTA President Iona Klayman. “The teachers really make an effort to interact with the students. And the teaching quality is excellent.”

“We share a belief that our kids can succeed,” says Principal Laurie Gross of the school’s teachers. “Every grade level has a service learning project. Our kids get a chance to do for others while they learn, and we think that’s part of what makes them wonderful people.”

Kensington

Kensington Parkwood
485 students, 32 classroom teachers, grades K-5

The way you can tell Kensington Parkwood Elementary is exceptional, parents say, is by watching what happens when students leave the fifth grade and go on to middle and high school.

“The kids come back,” says parent Debra Egan. They come back both to visit and to help out with special events and activities. “We really try to have this community that lasts beyond when the kids graduate.”

As an arts integration school, Kensington Parkwood sends its teachers to the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and other venues to learn how to bring art to nearly every class in school. The school has received honors from WETA television for its unique tutoring program, which brings parents and high school students to a local community center for free, one-on-one tutoring in problematic subjects.

Each of the school’s students takes home a monthly newsletter, and parents of younger children receive weekly updates about what’s happening in the classroom and what the academic expectations are. “The key thing is that you’re always welcome to come in and speak with your child’s teacher,” says Egan. “You can always go in and check to see how things are going.”

Principal Barbara Liess credits the arts integration program with much of the school’s success; because all of Kensington Parkwood’s teachers interact in implementing the program, they’re constantly sharing information. “When the staff has a true sense of community and sharing with each other, that transcends across to the rest of the community,” she says.

Potomac

Cold Spring
430 students, 20 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Parents say that what sets Cold Spring Elementary apart from the pack are a principal and staff who view education as a partnership between parents and teachers, with equal input invited from both parties.

“It’s a really unique partnership,” says PTA President Lauria Gira. “You have a strong and caring principal and a dedicated staff working with parents. You can tell it’s a community the minute you walk into the building.”

Gira says a nearly constant stream of activities both in and out of the classroom provides social and academic enrichment. “They all give the kids a love of learning and a value for education,” she says. “The teachers are amazingly creative,” says Gira.

Each year, one class presents an entire Shakespeare play. Other students participate in Maryland Day, donning costumes and taking part in state-centered activities. In addition, Cold Spring is one of a handful of elementary schools to participate in the Model U.N. program.

Potomac
534 students, 34 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Reading, writing and arithmetic are all well and good, say Potomac Elementary School parents, but what sets their school apart is a commitment to art and music that transcends the entire curriculum.

One of three Arts Integration Model Elementary Schools in the county, Potomac Elementary currently is in its second year of a federal grant that gives teachers special training to incorporate traditional art, music, and drama into every other class. “Kids see different things here,” says PTA President Diana Conway. “There are a lot of performances at school, and kids get to perform themselves at an early age.”

Potomac features a Chinese immersion program and is one of nine county schools to participate in the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Creating Original Opera, which gives third-grade students the opportunity to write and perform their own opera.

Principal Linda Goldberg says that her team sees education as a two-way street. Teachers and other staff members work hard to communicate with parents and encourage their involvement in the school, and parents donate hours and talents as their part of the effort.

“Our teachers are really good about connecting and communicating,” says Goldberg, adding that teachers routinely contact parents through e-mail or phone calls to let them know what’s going on at school and how their children are doing. That, she says, helps parents encourage their children and keeps everyone excited about education and the school.

Wayside
635 students, 39 classroom teachers, grades K-5

When Principal Yong-Mi Kim arrived at Wayside Elementary three years ago, she set up a series of meetings with staff to set a mission, vision and core values for the school. Several weeks later, a draft was presented to parents, who were invited to comment and make suggestions. From this sprang a solid plan for the school that, Kim says, has guided everything since.

“We have lots of parents who come in and volunteer and become part of the instructional program,” she says. “They’re knowledgeable about the school vision and mission that we set three years ago. We haven’t veered from that at all. Anything we’ve done in the past three years has been in line with that vision.”

That includes two special periods held every afternoon, during which students participate in programs in media, counseling or character education and teachers are free to meet with each other. This allows for better planning and a more cohesive experience for students, says Kim.

Wayside features extra art and music instruction on top of the county’s standard curriculum. It also has an accelerated curriculum, and for good reason, Kim says. “The teachers here are fantastic. They communicate high expectations and know the curriculum.”

Rockville

Farmland
577 students, 36 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Farmland Elementary School’s students find themselves attending classes with students from all over the world. “It makes the school very special and the people at the school really appreciate that different perspective on cultures and tradition,” says PTA President Deedee Jacobsohn, parent of a third grader.

That includes teachers who put in the extra effort to keep children engaged and on-track with their learning, says Jacobsohn. “They’re willing to put extra time in to pay attention to what a particular child might need,” she continues. “The music teacher goes all-out. The art teacher goes all-out. The gym teacher goes all-out. They’re always trying new things and that extra effort and creativity make a huge difference.”

That goes beyond academics. The teachers at Farmland are known for reaching out to students and struggling families who need extra help. “I know of teachers who will go shopping for families that might not have as much,” says Jacobsohn. “They look out for those in need in a lot of different ways.”

Jacobsohn says her seventh grader frequently visits the school and is still mentored by his former music teacher, and that’s not unusual. “A lot of students return,” she says. “They feel good about the school and they like to come back.”

Silver Spring

Bel Pre
460 students, 49 classroom teachers, grades PK-2

The students at Bel Pre Elementary School only stay there through second grade before transferring to Strathmore Elementary, but parents say that’s part of what makes the school ideal for their children. “It’s really geared toward the smaller children,” says PTA Vice President Frances Frost of Silver Spring, who has a first grader at Bel Pre and a third grader at Strathmore. “It’s nice to have 5-year-olds not in the same school with 12- and 13-year-olds.

“All of the kids go from Bel Pre to Strathmore,” says Frost. “They don’t have that transition of finding new friends. The two schools work together—the principals work together and there’s one PTA for both schools. They function like sister schools.”

“Our focus at Bel Pre Elementary School is to ensure that we know where each and every child is, academically and in their learning skills, which are social and behavioral skills,” says Principal Carmen van Zutphen.

Children’s scores and grades are monitored individually, and each week the school’s 49 teachers meet to discuss kids who seem to be falling behind. “We don’t want to just look at numbers. We want to know each child,” says van Zutphen.

Oakland Terrace
712 students, 51 classroom teachers, grades K-5

Principal Cheryl Pulliam takes a deep breath when she’s asked what makes Oakland Terrace Elementary School a great school. That’s not because she’s trying to think of something to say; on the contrary, there’s so much going on that she has to pick and choose what to explain to those unfamiliar with the school.

“I brag all the time,” she says. “Our parents are very happy with the responsiveness they get from teachers. They see we are working diligently on our instructional program and that information is shared constantly.”

The school also shares information on its Character Counts program, for which all teachers are trained to develop six pillars in students; including respect, responsibility, caring, honesty, citizenship and fairness. Students who model an area particularly well are recognized by having their name announced over the school’s PA system and having their name and their action written on a gold paper “brick,” which is then posted in the hallway. “The children look forward to that,” says Pulliam. “It makes them very proud to walk down the hallway and see their name.”

Pulliam credits a very active PTA for much of the school’s success, and says that a joint commitment to community service between parents and teachers helps children learn to become outstanding members of their communities. Children make sandwiches for residents of local homeless shelters, she says, and collect items for people in need. “All of our children are doing some kind of community service,” she says.

Viers Mill
484 students, 44 teachers, grades PK-5

Parents say the teachers at Viers Mill Elementary School don’t call it a day at 3 p.m. and forget about their students until the next morning. They spend many late afternoons and evenings working with students and bringing together families to enhance and improve classroom learning.

Once a month, Viers Mill families can attend family learning nights, when children enjoy special activities while their parents attend seminars on how to work with their kids to incorporate learning into everyday life. The nights kick off with a pizza dinner for everyone, and then kids head to classrooms while parents break into small groups to learn and role play. At the end of the evening, families are reunited and participate in a final activity that reinforces what the parents have worked on.

PTA President Michael Lentz says the nights not only educate, but bring together families to help foster a sense of community. “It really involves everyone in the school,” he says.

Principal Matthew Devan agrees. He says that while the evenings are designed to be fun for everyone, with lots of mingling, activities, games and raffles, “they’re really about giving parents training so that they can engage their children. We try to make them enjoyable so more people will come. It’s a nice time for families and it’s time for the community.”

Viers Mill staff and parent volunteers also work hard to emphasize that learning is fun. One Friday night every month, families are invited to “Thank Goodness It’s Friday,” an event that might feature a movie, a craft activity or a holiday-themed event that helps bring the kids back to school to relax and get to know each other and their teachers on a social level. And students and teachers regularly stay after school to participate in clubs.

Kim Fernandez is a freelance writer in Bethesda.