Kilmer Middle School

We just move to this area i think this school is awesome and i feel great with the staff and my son is better in scores, relations ,and the most importat he is a happy boy. Kilmer is the best Middle School
—Submitted by a parent

Agree with you, The office staff are not nice at all. This is the first school office I feel uncomfortable about. I have 4 children attending Fairfax county public schools, the staffs in Kilmer Middle School's front office act like they are the police women who are issuing the traffic tickets with no smile ...
—Submitted by a parent

I have three students currently attending Kilmer. One in GT, one in honors, and one in standard level courses. I can say the the expectations do rise quite a bit from one level to the next. Overall the teachers are good, some excellent, and many put in extra time when necessary. Of course, there are a few exceptions. My only real disappointment has been with the front office staff. I never feel welcome and anytime I need to drop something off or have a question I get the feeling I am annoying them or keeping them from some far more important task. I always get a small sense of dread when I need to head over to the school. My kids have all communicated the same feelings if they have any business to handle in the office.
—Submitted by a parent

I have one kid in this school right now and I am thinking about how not to send my second kid here. I regreted that I moved to this school district and let me kid attend this school. There are some good teachers in this school but overall quality of teachers are low. There seems to be a lot of new teachers there, making you wonder where the more experienced teachers went. The leadership of the school is not there either.
—Submitted by a parent

The school is fine I guess. It is way to strict on many rules, and unfortunetly does assign seating for lunches. The classes and time in between classes is not designated properly. Besides that, the teachers are great and their way of doing things works well.

My child had an excellent experience at Kilmer. She is bright, but has an IEP and I cannot speak highly enough of the Special Education department and their coordination with parents and teachers. She developed more confidence and independence at Kilmer and was able to enjoy learning much more than she had before. Also nice that they emailed grade status reports every 2 weeks (for all kids) so you knew if your child was falling behind. Teachers were great.
—Submitted by a parent

Great School. Great Teachers. Wide variety of clubs and program. Lot more for the kids to do in school. Very academic oriented. My kid was part of the GT program and the curriculum kept my kid challenged.
—Submitted by a parent

Yes, this school draws from a variety of areas but that isn't an issue, in my opinion. I have found the teachers in the GT program to be wonderful and my child has had a very good experience academically so far. The lack of oversight and concern by the Principal on how the Kilmer based clubs are run is an area of improvement. The music program is phenomenal.
—Submitted by a parent

The school itself is a weird juxtaposition of neighborhoods: apartments in Tysons Corner with parents who don't speak English and multi-million dollar mansions in Great Falls from kids who attend the GTC/AAP program here. Depending on which "group" you fall into, your experience will be very different.

My son had a good academic experience in this school. He was in the Advanced Academics track and was well prepared for high school last year. I believe his success in high school directly stems from the preparation he received at Kilmer.
—Submitted by a parent

The kids were great, i think i made more friends there than i did in any other school. as my fourth school in four years, it really exceeded my expectations. the only downside were the teachers, which really stunk and didnt seem to understand any problems anyone came up with.
—Submitted by a student

My child was at in GT pgm during 2006-08. Some of the teachers were great but some were not. Kilmer does not seem to have a good teacher selection and ongoing assessment process. The administration was only superficially helpful even after approching them for specific teacher related problems (teaching ability). The principal is not reachable easily - she has other layers of admins to contact first and I believe many serious issues do not even make it to her. There were no good response or feedback from administration about the issues we brought up. We were put directly in front of the teacher despite our suggestion that it was not the best way to handle (administration was present as well). No satisfactory responses were made available to us during or after the meeting - all superficial responses only. Incidently, we hear that the specific teacher is no longer there...
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter is studying in kilmer. she enjoy the atmosphere,she love the school .As a parent I din't face any problem with my child in her studies. Teachers and the staff of kilmer are very dedicated ,They take lot of care on students. Its a excellent school in fcps.
—Submitted by a parent

Kilmer definitely falls far short of its potential. The main problem seems to be over-crowding, which has led the principal to adopt a panoply of rules (assigned lunch seats, no touching in hallways, etc.). Many teachers appear overwhelmed by the number of the students they have to teach and follow silly, unflexible rules that leave no room for common sense. The school is definitely the weakest link in the Madison/Marshall pyramids, as both the elementary and high schools do a much better job with their students.
—Submitted by a parent

Kilmer is an amazing school. I wouldn't go anywhere but Kilmer. The teachers are acceptable and the students are very friendly. The rules are not too strict at all, but keep the kids in line. My middle school experience in the GT center at Kilmer has been great and I have absolutley no complaints.
—Submitted by a student

My nephew attends this school, and I am jealous of his environment. I teach in a school with 40 students in each class and over 2200 kids in a middle school. Compare Kilmer to other schools before you complain.
—Submitted by a teacher

This school is unwelcoming and makes you feel like you don't belong. The academics are great but the atmosphere is horrible. The rules are way too strict(no hugging). Some teachers are kind and help you in any way they can though. It just depends on how you look at it.
—Submitted by a student

Kilmer has good acidemics but there rules are really unreasonable. I guess lots of parents really want tough rules. Lots of after school activities. Pretty good it is just so uptight and strict and not very welcoming at all. The school is over crowded (now with over a thousand kids!) Lots of teachers are Ok and some are great but many are just down right horrible. The education is good. The homework load for some teams is crazy.
—Submitted by a parent

Kilmer has fairly good academics, but the overall atmosphere is unwelcoming and intimidating, making the transition from elementary to middle school horribly difficult. The administration is generally unhelpful, and the rules and policies laid down are unreasonable. Students are offered no guidance and are often unhappy with their entire middle school experience.
—Submitted by a student

I was a student at Kilmer from fall 99 to spring 01. I was in the Gifted and Talented for the first year that Kilmer offered it and the only complaint about the teachers I had was that it felt like some teachers didn't expect much talent from the GT kids. We were treated like other kids and sometimes weren't challenged as much as we could have been. This wasn't always the case though, I still remember and appreciate many of my teachers from Kilmer and what they taught me. As for the administration, that was the worst part of my time at Kilmer.
—Submitted by a former student