Manor View Elementary School

My son has been at Manor View for 3 years and has loved it. We were here with both principals and Mrs. O'Shea is absolutely amazing. The entire atmosphere at the school changed when she arrived. She is very approachable and you can be sure that when you go to her with a grievance that it will be addressed. The guidance counselor, Ms. Wallace, is also incredible. Each teacher that my son has had is above bar. They do a wonderful job of instilling a love of learning, not just teaching for a test. They are also very easy to get in contact with. We are sorry to be leaving here.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter went to Manor View for 2 years and we absolutely loved it. The principal was everything the other posters have mentioned and it was definitely a great day for Manor View when she was removed. I loved how involved the teachers were with my daughter. Despite moving half the world away we miss Manor View. The teachers at this school (especially the art teacher) are the only reason I'd even consider moving back to Fort Meade.
—Submitted by a parent

This is our first year at this school and I have 2 kids here. The new principle is great and we have wonderful teachers for both kids. They have been involved in science, music, and art programs. It is really unfortunate that the rating is so low for this school because of the past principle. This school will start the new IB program next year and already has STEM. People really should not rate a school based on the office staff. That has nothing to do with the learning environment.
—Submitted by a parent

It is a great day for Manor View teachers and families. The principle has finally been removed from the school. Too bad so many teachers had to give up their jobs for this to happen. Next year should be a much better school year with teachers not being bullied by administration.
—Submitted by a parent

Having had children at this school for 6 years I can completely agree with the newest comments. The principal is rude and like to bully not only the teachers but the parents and students as well. The custodian (daytime) in my opinion has TOO much interaction with the children, does not clean the school as his job description says and is buddy buddy with the principal. I don't know how a principal like this has not been replaced, by now. Having concerns when there that the principal wasn't in agreement with me, I was banned from the school and school property and told I would be arrested if I crossed the boundaries! All this for what I believed was inappropriate behavior of a staff member with the students. I will say my children had the greatest teachers there, but they were limited with what they could do because they had to "teach to the book" and at MSA time the stress put on teachers and children was ridiculous, all to make the principal look "good". Fort Meade does NOT need this principal. Our kids go through enough every day having one or two parents in the military. Their lives are changing day to day and school should be a place where they should feel happy about going.
—Submitted by a parent

Monor View Elementary school is a good school they have some good teachers and they believe in working with the students, however the women in the front office are the worst, they are always mean and have attitudes. If you come up to visit your children they give you the third degree and the school is suppose to have an open door policy. Today i went to the school to get work for my child because she is sick, i was told to wait for the teacher to come to the front to see me but when the teacher came to the front she told me she was waiting on me and that she told the office to send me down, so they wasted 30 mins of my time and my childs teacher time
—Submitted by a parent

First of all if you have the option in school do not choose this one. This is the WORST school I have ever been too. The principle likes to "bully" the teachers. The learning environment is horrible. You can tell the teachers don't want to be there because they get no help or respect from administration. The fact that they only have 15 minutes for recess is ridiculous. Children should be able to have time to relax and play. The head custodian is rude and talks to the children inappropriatly and gets away with it. These issues have been brought to the school board but nothing has been done. The principle has been there for 8 years and the quility of the school and learning has gone down. The best thing for the school would be to get an entire new administration that respects teachers, staff, parents, and students and doesn't micro manage every aspect of the day.
—Submitted by a parent

If you receive a letter saying the cost of something is $10, and students are to pay $4 by a certain date, and there are others items listed the same way, do you: A. believe the amont due by the date is a partial payment, to avoid straining paren'ts finances because there were several things they wanted paid for all close together? B. figure that you only had to pay the amount by the due date, that whole 'item cost' thing isn't relavant. Wrong! It's B. Mentioning the item cost is completely irrelavant to the paragraphs, indeed, the whole paper, and one is to use their phychic powers to see that funding picked up the $6, as they do not mention it. This is the sort of obtuse reasoning and grammar issues you will deal with at Manor View. I recommend calling to make sure they said what they meant.
—Submitted by a parent

PTA money is spent on skate nights, the accelerated reader program, eagle feather prizes (incentives to help with behavior), books for classrooms and the media center, the holiday party, parent involvment like mom's and muffins and dad's and donuts and next year parent presentations, ice cream socials, end of the year activity, 5th grade promotion activites, enrichment assemblies, some funding for guidance to spend for families in need, teacher appreciation, science fair boards, and prizes for various other incentives throughout the year (and more). Come to the PTA meetings to help determine what the money is spent on--your PTA membership gives you a voice and the right to vote (which is why we encourage families to join and get involved).

I miss this school. My son had to leave this school to go to west meade because we move to a new housing area. The teachers and the ladies in the office were so nice. My son loved it there his speech teacher was the best. keep up the good work Manor View
—Submitted by a parent

The principal of this school has been outwardly antagonistic to parents, especially PTA members. This explains why no one wants a position on the PTA board.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school with a wonderful principal and teachers that really care!
—Submitted by a parent

Manor View is a great school with great teachers. I don't disagree with some of negative comments about the principal--she does often seem aloof and disinterested in anything that parents think. But the parents are actually a bigger problem. Parental involvement at this school is very weak. Hopefully that will change. If I had to choose between replacing the principal or geting a dozen gung ho moms parents to volunteer some time every week, I would certainly choose the latter.
—Submitted by a parent

MVES has 640 kids. So why can't it get parents to volunteer their time? The current PTA board members will be leaving this year and they don't have replacements. Really?--not 4 parents out of 640 kids are willing to be on the PTA board or assist as an additional PTA member? Even if people think the principal isn't parent-friendly, there are others in the school that would love your help--our kids (& teachers)! Bad attitudes seem to run both ways. School's supposed to be the center of the community--but the community isn't pulling its weight either (not that there aren't exceptions--especially those who take time to read Greatschools.org ). Kids with involved parents are better behaved & higher achievers. If more parents got involved in a positive way (or encouraged others to help), the reviews might be better--and maybe it wouldn't matter if the administration wasn't top-notch.
—Submitted by a parent

It is very important that you contact the School Liason for Fort Meade (that's if your a military or civilian) to help you decide whether or not this is the school for your child. If I had known what I know now, I would not have enrolled my children in this school. The principal is not parent friendly, she's aggressive, rude, definetly not what I call a top notch principal. She has a really bad attitude. Whatever happened inthe past to cause such a bad taste in her mouth does not need to be displayed at School. The tone of voice that she uses with some parents and children are not what parents want their children to be exposed to. If you're a parent who wants to apart of your child's school curriculum , THIS IS NOT THE SCHOOL! Until this principal is removed, don't do it!
—Submitted by a parent

I am extremely disappointed in the administrations lack of 'help' in getting the 5th grade class sizes reduced this year. My child is in a class with 30 other students. This would not be as big of a deal, except Manor View is a POD style environment. Thus making the total number of 5th graders in the small open-environment style space to be 93. Not to mention the special education classes are also held in this pod! I was recently made aware that at the beginning of the school year 5th grade had 4 teachers, which if kept would make the class sizes to be around 23 student each. The fourth fifth grade teacher was moved to teach 4th grade because their numbers were also high. The AACPS area director for Manor View must not have concern for high numbers in 5th grade!!
—Submitted by a parent

Three years at this school and we haven't seen or heard of any improvements. The administration simply does not care to engage the parents on any level. While other schools on post (we had a pre-schooler in one last year) get high marks, this school continues to lose experienced teachers to other schools in the county. Virtually the entire staff is brand new. That said, we love our teachers and will do whatever it takes to help them succeed. But the leadership of this school is so out of touch! They over react and under react. Awful. Awful. Awful
—Submitted by a parent

We have moved off base in order for our children to get a better education in a more positive (and cleaner) environment. The Pod classes are an issue for children ( not just sensitive ones, but not all children. Some of the teachers however, speaking...yelling at the children the way they have is totally unacceptable. The everyday cirriculum needs to improve not the MSA scores
—Submitted by a parent

I have had children at Manor View for 7 years now. The Pod setup may be unusual for parents to get accustomed to, but really has no negative impact on the child. I happen to have a learning disabled child who is sensitive to noise, and if she can flourish in this environment, then perhaps it is the parents preventing the other children from enjoying it. The staff is caring and competent. A first year teacher is definitely not a bad thing! It means they are the most up to date and capable, and the least set in their ways! and for those complaining of young teachers, you will find that the teachers grow older as the children do, and the white haired teachers will be found in high schools, not elementary schools. At no time were the children not allowed to play on the playground or outside. Silly alarmists.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is no more strict than any other elemantary school I have had children attend. There are many extracurricular activities, and at the last band/strings/chorus concert, the gym was completely full with freinds and family. PTA has regular meetings, and the staff is always available for a meeting or quick chat. It's good to see an institution that cares about the child more than the numbers. I'm fighting to keep my child there next year.
—Submitted by a parent