Fort Belvoir Elementary School

I had 2 children in this school for under 6 months, very disappointing. My 4th grade student's teacher was very mean spirited, even went so far as to tell my child that she didn't want him at that school, nor in her class, and was glad he was leaving. My 6th grader failed to be challenged, admitted into the advanced program (I had to sign an approval for to allow him to participate, still have a copy of it), I was then told that he wasn't in the advanced classes, never was. My child was bored beyond belief. Very disappointing school atmosphere.
—Submitted by a parent

We have 2 children who attend Fort Belvoir Elementary. In my opinion, this school needs an overhaul. The staff lost my children and had no concern with there whereabouts. My son's second grade teacher loses papers and is very disorganized. She also does not return emails when we have concerns. The office staff in the main office are generally uncaring and rude. Overall, our experience here has been less than pleasant.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter only went to this school for two months before we changed her to another school. The students are not challenged, the staff is rude, the teachers don't seem interested in the individual child. The behavior and language of the other students was not the environment I wanted my daughter to be in. If you are planning to move on base and have elementary age children, please consider some of the other schools available in the area.
—Submitted by a parent

This school was a disappointment for our family. The differentiation was nonexistent especially if you have a high achieving student in need of quality and rigorous instruction. Perhaps our experience was isolated, as I heard other parents were happy with their teacher's pedagogy and knowledge of teaching. The behaviors, language and inappropriate conversations were another problem. Bottome line-we would not send our child there if we had known what he'd experience.
—Submitted by a parent

I had children in this school for seven years. As long as there were no issues with my children's behavior, it was great. Unfortunately, the administration talks a good game, but won't follow through. After discussing a plan of action that both the parent and staff member agrees to, the staff member turns around and does something different with the child, as far as discipline. The parent only finds out about this when they try to follow through with what they had agreed to do (via the conference with the staff member) and the child reveals that what the parent was told would happen at school did not actually happen. This makes it impossible for the parents to instill consistency and respect for authority with their children. The school is illequipped to deal with dicsiplinary issues.
—Submitted by a parent

I think this school was fantastic, I was a student here for 5th grade and while being here, the teacher's and faculty were very friendly and they did their job very well. I am currently Graduated and I just wanted to let you parents know that, your child will learn alot at this school and will have a great time. There is always something to do at this school and the activities they perform will inspire your child.

This school is very large, and you never ever see the principal. The school as a whole does not seem very organized and it seems to be a revolving door of teachers. However my kids have always had great teachers that worked hard to provide a good educational experience for my kids. Probably the best teacher is Ms. Barber a 6th grade teacher. My child has a learning disability and never liked school. After having Ms. Barber his confidence is high and he is working on grade level (something he never has done before). She truly has a gift! I also must praise Mrs. Pena a 5th grade special education teacher who worked hard with my child as well.
—Submitted by a parent

Fort Belvoir Elementary school has been a wonderful school for my children. I have three children at the school ranging from preschool to sixth grade. We've had some amazing teachers and some not so amazing teachers, but overall it has been a great experience. I love that they have inclusion classes for the special needs kids and the special ed teachers have been great. I will be sad to leave this school behind. The previous reviews about the principal are true, she is never around the school and really sweeps issues under the rug, but I assure you that the rest of the staff isn't like that. The PTO is probably the best you will ever see.
—Submitted by a parent

Fort Belvoir Elementary is a great school. Teachers, faculty, staff, and volunteers do a fantastic job and the encouragement and skill that they have shown to our kids, and as parents, we have seen first hand that they are providing a top notch education for our kids. Including children, like our youngest, who requires a special needs class, are the best that we've seen and we couldn't be more thankful for the job that they, and all the educators at FBES, do everyday.
—Submitted by a parent

I am not too particularly happy with the quality of Teachers nor the curriculum. I feel that all teachers should be accountable and present a lesson plan for the year/semester/quarter atleast monthly. There is an injustice when we allow our children to absorb the teachings on a whim of an educator.
—Submitted by a parent

I already wrote another review, but felt compelled to write another one. My son has Asperger's and ADHD and I can tell you that there have been 2 years where we've had to fight for services. However the other 2 years were fantastic. His second grade teacher-Mrs. Mamo-and his fourth grade teacher-Mrs. McKay and Mrs. Bishop-were the best teachers ever hands down, end of story! They were so patient, always kind, always kept us up to speed on how he was doing.
—Submitted by a parent

School is okay, Very crowded. My son didn't get a very good teacher. Classroom are very very crowded.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school! I am in the school often and I always see smiling faces on the children and teachers. The staff (for the most part) is wonderful and the Pricipals and Counselors are always willing to meet with parents and resolve issues. The music programs are wonderful for young kids, and test scores are high even with the huge transfer rates. We love Fort Belvoir and we will be sad when it's time to move.
—Submitted by a parent

I have left Ft. Belvoir after 2 years at this school. If I had to be at Ft. Belvoir a 3rd year I would have found a way to pay for private school to get my twins out of that nighmare. I was in the school every week in not every day yet I never ever saw the principal. I didn't even know what she looked like. Some of the teachers worked against the moms if we were officers wives. The classes were too big, the teachers were inept as a whole yet there were some teachers that were special and fabulous. Problems were never solved, rather they were ignored, test scores were all that mattered and leadership from the top was nonexistent. I wondered how anything was accomplished since the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing.
—Submitted by a parent

I've been to better school.I've seen better control over the students in the class and in the caferteria. The principal doesn't seem to be doing her job as head of the school.
—Submitted by a parent

I have had a great experience at this school and I have two kids diagnosed with autism. This is a great mainstream school and it depends on who you get for a teacher as to your childs success. We have been here for three years and only had one bad teacher out of 6. You write down what your child needs and do not back down, they will do great. Overall, great sipport from parents, tons of music and art. Sports activities are throught he youth services division. Academic programs are good. Great services for kids with learning disabilities even though it has a low rating.
—Submitted by a parent

Fort Belvoir Elementary School is a Fairfax County Public School. Unlike most schools in the county, The school offers full day Kindergarten. Our family is very happy with the education provided to our kids. The school is VERY large, so much so, that it has 3 vice-principals, who have an amazing way of giving it a small schoolhouse feel. Our child looks forward to school every day, and has been blessed with incredible teachers. The school offers inclusion classes which keep the special education integrated with mainstream kids, which has been a bonus for our child. The school offers gifted and talented programs. Music and art highlights our childs' week, and the school has fine teachers for these subjects. In the 1st Grade, our child was not only introduced but studied great composers and learned to recognize the sound of an array of instruments. This school nurtures the military child.
—Submitted by a parent

Honestly, I have been very disappointed with FBES. Great teachers are very hard to come by and the school is entirely too large for the principal to manage the issues that accompany every elementary school. She has proven this time and time again. Ms. Jane Wilson is a very pleasant woman, however in my experience, she very conveniently sweeps very important issues under the rug and does not hold teachers accountable. We have had a couple wonderful teachers at the school and a few very unmotivated, illiterate, passive aggressive teachers who basically did their own thing, resisting adherance to Fairfax County Policies. I realize that public schools in general are slipping, which is very apparant here at Fort Belvoir. I would not reccomend this school to anyone. This has been an unpleasant experience for myself and my children. Drastic changes need to be made!
—Submitted by a parent

This school has been a nightmare. The principle is never available. They do not have an 'open door' policy. When a problem does arrise the administrators are quick to 'hush you up' and ignore your requests. As military families we have enough to worry about, we should not have to put up with the stresses of teachers and principles who do not respect our children.
—Submitted by carolyn fitzwater, a parent

I recently moved here after 3 years in a Department of Defense school in Italy. I was very skeptical coming back stateside, but I feel we made the right choice by living on Fort Belvoir and sending my son to the Fort Belvoir Elementary school. The people there are awesome and very helpful. I have not yet volunteered, but I see parents all over the place, the school is large in size with about 1300 students, the principal knows each kid by name! My son is on an IEP and is excelling here. He seems very comfortable and that is a major plus. If you are moving to this area, I highly recommend this school.
—Submitted by a parent