Most years, Montgomery County Public Schools asks students to grade the schools they attend. The following are the Bethesda-area schools that got the best grades in the 2009 MCPS Environmental Survey. The rankings are based on the schools that got the highest percentage of A’s and B’s from students on the question, “What grade would you give your school?”
Elementary Schools
Wayside Elementary School, Potomac
574 students
46 professional staff
grades K-5
Self-schooled senior, Chevy Chase
The well-tended flower beds lining Wayside’s main entrance are a testament to the teamwork that Principal Yong-Mi Kim says is key to the school’s success.
Parents and students labored alongside the school’s building maintenance staff and a local nursery to create the beds and sitting areas—just one example of how the Wayside community pulls together.
“I’m so lucky. I have the best team,” Kim says.
Teamwork is the school’s modus operandi. Teachers work in grade-level teams and every staff member gets involved in the classroom, even Kim. She works with students who need additional assistance with class work or homework and also translates schoolwork and test materials for non-English-speaking students.
“Everybody in this building teaches,” Kim says, “and I think that’s what makes it a great place.”
PTA President Lori Marks, whose children are in kindergarten and third grade, couldn’t agree more. “We have a great staff and they seem to really like each other. And I think that translates to the kids,” she says.
Bells Mill Elementary School, Potomac
525 students
75 professional staff
grades K-5
If Bells Mill had a motto, it would be: “We are family.”
“The kids know that the adults in the building are here to support them,” Principal Jerri Oglesby says.
One way the school has built a sense of family is through Study Circles, group discussions that address racial and ethnic barriers to student achievement and parental involvement. Two circles held over the past two year shave drawn “a wonderful turnout” of parents, says PTA President Lisa Stackman, who has a first-grader at the school.
“The point of the program is getting a variety of people with different references to come,” she says. “There is no doubt that it really connects people. You really get down to a personal level, and you talk to people that you’ve never talked to before.”
Bradley Hills Elementary School, Bethesda
472 students
34 professional staff
grades K-5
Principal Sandra Reece’s commitment to her students and willingness to explore new ideas explain why parents and students are so high on Bradley Hills.
“You know how kids think the principal lives at the school? I’m pretty sure she lives at the school,” says PTA President Cathy Scherr,who has a fourth-grader there.
Scherr says parents appreciate Reece’s openness to suggestions.“If you have a good idea that’s going to be beneficial, she will support you,” Scherr says.
Reece says she can’t take all the credit. She says she has a staff willing to go beyond the county curriculum to provide hands-on activities and lots of parents willing to volunteer.
Take Bradley Hills’ efforts this year to become the first science-oriented school in the county by embedding science throughout the curriculum. The school is near the National Institutes of Health and can draw on parents who are scientists and NIH employees. Reece would like to see the school become a model for professional development for science teachers.
The process includes revamping the school’s courtyard— with parents’ help—to create an outdoor classroom where children can conduct nature experiments. The plan is to make the courtyard “not just a nice place to do writing assignments, but to become an outside classroom in the very best sense of the word,” Reece says.
Wood Acres Elementary School, Bethesda
726 students
78 professional staff
grades K-5
Counselor Theresa King receives high marks from parents and staff for building a sense of community at Wood Acres, which has seen an enrollment increase of 100 students over the past three years.
She has energized existing programs promoting good character and peaceful behavior, says Principal Marita Sherburne. As part of her Peace Program, King challenges students to work toward a specific number of peaceful school days each year.
“Terry has found a way to make a connection with kids,” Sherburne says. “…She has them just eating out of her hand.”
King’s efforts to promote the Character Counts program have also helped the large school community come together, says PTA President Susan Mordan, who has children in third and fifth grades. “It puts the kids in the right frame of mind to learn,” she says. “I think they feel safe and ready to learn.”
Garrett Park Elementary School, Kensington
487 students
60 professional staff
grades K-5
Angie Buckingham Melton was nervous about becoming PTA president this year—until she witnessed how committed parents are to GPES.
“It’s been a really eye-opening experience to see how many of our parents want to be involved in our school,” says Melton, whose children are in first and fourth grades. “There’s never a problem finding a parent to help out in the classroom.”
During last fall’s flu season, it wasn’t unusual to see a parent or grandparent manning the office phones during staff members’absences.
Fittingly, the school theme is “One band… One sound,” Principal Elaine Chang-Baxter says. “We’re all in this together.”
Teachers often sacrifice lunch breaks to help struggling students; they also run after-school academic programs and clubs ranging from cheerleading to cooking for kindergartners.
“Our staff is very committed to doing what they can for the kids,” Melton says. “That’s the kind of thing that makes it are ally unique school.”
Stone Mill Elementary School, North Potomac
600 students
60 professional staff
grades K-5
Principal Kimberly Williams believes in doing what’s necessary to help students succeed and to keep her school running smoothly.
“I really believe that if children are confident that they can be successful, they will be successful,” she says.
To provide the tools to be successful, Williams’ teaching staff offers Tiger Achievement Time, a 20-minute daily period in which kids in upper grade scan seek assistance with schoolwork. Teachers also frequently donate their planning periods and lunch breaks to assist students.
“They offer it,” Williams says. “I don’t tell them to do it.”
Williams and six staff members further emphasize a comfortable learning environment by greeting students as they arrive. “Parents know I am outside every single day, so if you want to talk to me, you know where I am,” she says.
“That woman just personalizes the place,” says PTA Recording Secretary Carol Greenspun, whose children are in second, third and fifth grades. “She must know every child’s name.”
Somerset Elementary School, Chevy Chase
471 students
35 professional staff
grades K-5
At Somerset Elementary, every grade tackles projects that forge connections outside the school. Fifth-graders, for instance, raise money to buy winter coats for residents of a county homeless shelter.
“All of the schools run really good academic programs, but it’s the community and human connections that make the school,” Principal Laurie Gross says.
Parents often lend a hand with the service projects as well as other school activities. “When parents volunteer, they’re [showing] their children that volunteering is very important,” says PTA Co-President Nina Eisenberg, whose children are in second and fifth grades. “It just sets an example.”
