Davidsonville Elementary School

Our two girls have been at Davidsonville for the past three years and absolutely love it. They are both outgoing, advanced academically and thriving at DES. We have not had a bad teacher - in fact, they have all been amazing. And, the school has been highly responsive to any concerns or questions that we have. The school itself is beautiful - very modern, clean and bright. The biggest concern we have is where to go next, as we are not thrilled with Central Middle School.
—Submitted by a parent

If your child falls in the autism spectrum do not dare place your child in this school. We found this school to be decades behind in providing services to children affected by autism compared to other schools in the region. The staff lacks basic understanding or training in dealing with autistic children and are oblivious to special programs available for autistic children in their very own county. The county does it's best but unfortunately this particular school is stuck in the 70's in the area of educating children in the autism spectrum.
—Submitted by a parent

I have children in DES for 5 years now and while it has a lot of parental involvement from lots of stay at home mothers, I'm not overly impressed with the teachers or leadership and direction that they are receiving. A few teachers have been great but most just average. The emphasis is clearly on test scores and if your child doesn't score well, they are essentially left behind or pushed to produce better scores - not learn what they are lacking in. Too much homework, not enough communication with parents. And, my biggest pet peeve - the teachers spend way too much time telling the students inappropriate details about their own personal lives...TMI!! I often wonder when they get their work done. Overall, I have been disappointed but other than private Kindergarten, I have no other elem school to compare it with. It's ok but needs improvement!
—Submitted by a parent

This is a great school! I moved to Davidsonville in large part because of the school's reputation, and I have not been disappointed! I've currently got three children there, and they all are thriving. The kids get great opportunities to learn in the classroom, the facilities are fantastic, and the fifth grade teachers are doing an especially good job challenging the students to think critically and creatively.
—Submitted by a parent

I must agree with the post dated Dec 23,2006. We are a military family, so we have been in many schools. Davidsonville Elementary is a very big dissapiontment. The class size of the 5th grade is now 30-1. The focus is on the standardized test scores. The teachers and tests are very concerned with teaching 'New' thinking that the children are not focused on learning fundamentals. I was so disapointed with the school I withdrew my children at the end of the first grading period. In that amount of time the 3rd graders had taken 2 fireld trips and were signed up for a 3rd. The fieldtrip was a PE field trip, when speaking with the teacher she said she did not know the children had been on so many fieldtrips so close together. It would appear NO communication between teachers or administrative staff.
—Submitted by a parent

As a former student and parent of a Davidsonville Elementary Student, you could not ask for a better group of teachers and administrative personnel. The involvement and feed back you receive about your child is amazing, along with the academic program they instill in a child is more then adequate to prepare them for the next level.
—Submitted by a parent

This is our second year sending children to this school. It has been a profound dissapointment. My third grader's teacher-to-student ratio is a terrible 20+ to 1. The principle seems to place getting a 'Blue Ribbon' rating over well rounded child development. The teachers are overly focused on scores for standardized tests. So much so that my children take multiple choice spelling tests! (as opposed to the traditional method of actually writing out a spelling words) because this is how spelling is graded on the standardized tests. The teachers overload the kids with homework because they cannot accomplish the tasks that they are expected to cover (for the stanardized tests) in a normal school day.
—Submitted by a parent

This is the best school I have ever been involved in! The parent participation is excellent and the staff is superb. The school is truly a fine tuned machine.
—Submitted by a parent