Clermont Elementary School

We have kids in 3rd grade and Kindergarten and have found the academics to be challenging, the school environment to feel safe, and I really feel like I have a voice as a parent. Parents are very involved. Even our bus driver is great.
—Submitted by a parent

I would love to say great things about Clermont, but I have removed my children from this school. I sent one completely through, the middle child went through a few years as well. This year everyone was moved elsewhere. The PTA has been very energetic at this school, and the kids have benefited from this. There are a few fantastic teachers here and a few that are riding time for free summers. The administration is all about face, not the children. Several incidents that should have been corrected and reported to the parents immediately were swept under the table. Replace the top administration staff and this school may return to a top rated school following the construction.
—Submitted by a parent

Great Parents and Active PTA but the teachers are lacking classroom control partly because the administration/school divides the kids into classes based on their academic skill. It creates an unfair environment for many students and teachers. The administration will not acknowledge the problems with housing an AA program in a neighborhood school and focus most of their time and resources towards bettering the AA program. Also, the administration and teachers have a gap in communication with the parents. My child was involved in a bullying incident and was ganged up on by 3 other students who left bruises on his body and the school failed to notify me of the incident and did not consider it to be a serious incident. The administration often tries to discipline in school and does not communicate problems to parents so the problems continue despite their efforts. I believe if parents were notified of discipline problems with their children some of the issues could be resolved at home. As a military family I was very frustrated with our overall experience at Clermont. Don't be fooled by programs/scores this is not a good environment for any child.
—Submitted by a parent

The average student is underserved at Clermont. As long as a student passes the SOLs, gets "S" on report cards and is not a discipline problem, they are passed through the 'factory' system of education. Parents are catching on through outside testing and tutoring that their children can be as much as several grades behind compared to their peers nationwide. It takes a huge amount of parent involvement to navigate your child through this school successfully. We will be moving our child to a neighboring school for peace of mind.
—Submitted by a parent

Kids: great Parents: great PTA: very active Teachers: most good, but seem very frustrated with the administration Administration: awful Office staff: unfriendly From a military family perspective, this principal does not want to hear from parents (or teachers). The GT program that they claim to have is non existent, don't be fooled. We attended another FCPS elementary school last time we were in VA and it was like night and day to this school. We are anxiously awaiting our move next spring and would not return to Clermont.
—Submitted by a parent

Clermont is a small school with less than 500 children attending K-6th. My kids love the school! The teachers are awesome! While teaching to standards, they also ensure those that are more advanced are challenged. ...talk about dedication! It is not uncommon for the teachers to teach 3 different skill levels within one class. If children are found to be more advanced the school takes those kids to meet/receive instruction from the advanced academics teacher (2nd grade). Keep in mind my kids are young (2nd and K). I have been very impressed by the administration and the teachers ability to identify and encourage academic learning! The foreign language instruction starts in 1st grade. This school teaches Mandarin Chinese. This is so impressive! Annually the kids put on a celebration for Chinese New Year. They sing songs, learn to read and write with more challenging curriculm as the students advance. I also want to commend the parents in the community. They are VERY active and supportive. All around, I am extremely happy with the school.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a great school with outstanding facilities. The best outdoor athletic fields associated with any elementary school in the area.

Both of my children attended Clermont Elem and both received an outstanding education which enabled them to succeed in there early adult years.
—Submitted by a parent

The administration at Clermont is awful. The teachers & PTA are great, but seem to be slipping each year as they tire of admin. politics. The budget is poorly handled and rarely appropriately accounted for. The administration is rarely approachable and often very defensive. After 4 years, I'd hoped it would improve, but am sorry to say it has not. I am truly surprised that with such a strong parental involvement that more has not been done to expose the issues at Clermont. It's too bad. It has the makings for a great school, but it's like a well decorated house that's burning to the ground. Doesn't matter how pretty it is if it's destroying itself.
—Submitted by a parent

I agree with the previous parent. This school has a great potential, wonderful PTA, very nice parents, a few very good teachers. Unfortunately the 'administrator' in question is not interested in anything else but self promotion. 'Mediocrity doesn't mean average intelligence, it means an average intelligence that resents and envies its betters'.
—Submitted by a parent

I had a child at Clermont Elementary for her KDG & 1st Grade years before we decided to enroll her in a private school. I loved Clermont's small community feel, the children, and found the PTA and the parents top notch and dedicated to their children's success. Unfortunately I found the teachers inexperienced, unenthusiastic, disorganized, and lacking with parental communication. Luckily, my daughter learns easily or I would be very worried about the academic skills she obtained while at Clermont. One of the administrators is very inapproachable and often had numerous grammatical and spelling mistakes with parental letters as well as errors with content (names, dates, etc.). I am surprised with such strong parental involvement that FCPS hasn't been alerted to the weak administration and staff.
—Submitted by a parent

Awesome school, fantastic cirriculum, very caring and courteous staff and counselor!!! We love this school!
—Submitted by a parent

I have a son finishing up 3rd grade, and we love the school. We were unhappy with the 'combo classes' in the 07-08 school year, but that has thankfully gone away. The parents are very involved, the PTA provides a lot of extras to the schools, and we have been very pleased with all of the teachers. The only downside is the I do find the administrators, (well, only one really) unapproachable and defensive. But I still stand by my excellent rating!
—Submitted by a parent

My child has thrived since leaving Clermont. I only have respect for a couple of teachers and staff.
—Submitted by a parent

Clermont has manythings going for it, but class sizes have become unwieldy in recent years. Parents' frustration ran high in the 2007-8 schoolyear about the large number of combined-age classrooms. In the 2008-9 school year, there are no combo classes, but several classes are too large for teachers to manage. The principal is extremely ambitious and has succeeded in bringing new programs to the school, but her weak communication skills have driven a wedge between her and the parents. The 'local' GT program is a joke and was oversold to parents. The PTA at this school is powerful and relentlessly demanding. My child has had inexperienced teachers during all four years at Clermont.
—Submitted by a parent

My kids attended Clermont, and I felt lucky to have such a school with a true neighborhood feeling to it in such an urban area. With regard to previous concerns, there are no combo classes this school year ('08/09). Also, while I was room mom, I had an abundance of parent involvement but other room moms needed more help so sometimes it just depends on the class. If a parent wants to be involved the library, PTA are always eager to have help. Some parents want to run the classroom and that is not fair to anyone so I do think teachers should have the final say in that regard. As at any school, some teachers are better than others but overall was pleased. Class size is somewhat beyond the control of administration as # of kids per class before splitting is mandated by the county.
—Submitted by a parent

Clermont was a hidden gem for many years. With a beyond wonderful staff that includes the front office, teachers, librarian, custodial staff, and administration. We couldn't decide from year to year who was a better teacher. We have had 2 children start in kindergarten and finish through 6th grade and couldn't have had a finer school even if we created it ourselves. It really lived upto it's motto off 'lifelong learning'! However, over the past few years, with a new administration, things started slipping and with each year grew more and more disappointing. Parents are no longer welcome to volunteer in classroom (even in the younger grades), class sizes have become way to large and the number of unfair combo classes created chaos in every corner. The administrator is unapproachable and many times very defensive, without answer questions and concerns. A real shame to what has happened and continuing.
—Submitted by a parent

I have children in kindergarten, third & fifth grades. The teachers are simply wonderful. Our transition from homeschooling has been almost without a hitch. The multicultural environment itself has been an invaluable teaching tool, as has the community atmosphere among the students, parents and staff. My children feel (and are!) safe at clermont. And I have been very pleased with the staff's willingness to address issues as they come up. My only complaint is that parents are asked to donate money to this fairfax county public school despite the system's two billion dollar budget!
—Submitted by Shannon Perkins, a teacher

In general, an awesome public school. We love the small size of the student body, but some of the classes (depending on grade) are overcrowded. Very few discipline problems compared to most public schools.
—Submitted by a parent

Great parent-school cooperation, very much a community, provides almost a private school education due to small size - but w/all the resources of a major public school system. Kids, teachers, staff & families - all great and working together
—Submitted by a parent