Ross Elementary School

Ross Elementary School is a great school! Principal Searl has proven to be a strong leader and the teachers and support staff are dedicated, professional and well qualified. We have a very strong PTA body and lots of parents do volunteer work on a regular basis. My son is very happy with his teachers and loves the aftercare program with all its enrichments (sport and academic alike). No wonder that the waiting list to get a spot at Ross is in the double digits!!!
--Submitted by a parent

Strong teachers, great principal, involved parents, and a strong PTA. Overall a wonderful school. Our child has thrived there this year.
--Submitted by a parent

Our daughter is in finishing up Pre-K at Ross and loves it. The teachers and parents are very involved and create a great environment. The one downside is that it only goes to 5th grade.
--Submitted by a parent

We moved back to DC last August in time for the new school year. My daughter had attended a phenomenal school in our previous location where she was in the gifted program, so I was very apprehensive about putting her in DC public schools, particularly with all the bad press the District was receiving at the time. However, I have to say, that Ross is a wonderful school. Principal Searl is a breath of fresh air. She is very "open door" with the parents, who are extremely active at this school. She also gives her staff room to be creative. My daughter's class has kids who fall into all learning levels, yet her teacher manages to challenge them individually with some wonderfully creative assignments. My daughter loves the partnership Ross has with Filmore Arts where once a week students attend music, arts & dance classes. Moreover, the after care program is the best I've experienced. So far my daughter has been able to take swimming lessons, do Girl Scouts, and attend a special Science Program (just to name a few). There are only 140 kids in the school which is nice because you really get to know the community. I think Ross is DC's best kept secret.
--Submitted by a parent

I am glad that your daughter feels happy at Ross. I do however understand what the previous parent is going through. My son came to Ross in the middle of the school year from overseas with limited English. We enrolled him at Ross as it was our neighborhood school. Less than a month later, he started complaining that he was being made fun of by teachers. I did not pay much attention until another student (and her mother) told me how my son was being rediculed in science class by the teacher. The same teacher, responsible for after school Scrabble Club, would continue with his cruel tactics and give my son consonant lettes only, time after time, impossible for anyone to make words, let alone a child who's learning a new language. This again was confirmed by classmates; when confronted, the teacher denied any wrongdoing, implying that the children were not telling the truth. Also, the math teacher was also being harsh on him because he was unable to read "cursive" used for the problem of the day. We scheduled several meetings with the principal but she did not even show up (we met with the counsellor). We had no choice but to pull our boy out of the school. Former parent
--Submitted by a parent

Its a little better with the new principal but nepotism is still present with a few teachers who tell the so called "important parents" that their children are geniuses and the not so important parents how their children need a lot of help, with the same few kids being put on a pedestal for everything and anything. Students themselves know that this has been an ongoing trend among a couple teachers. It's time for this to stop as all children should be treated equally.

The recent post about the Ross science teacher is disturbing. This teacher breaks the mold --he's charismatic, fair and firm, and doesn't teach to any tests. He brings joy to his teaching and it's contagious. My children, who have moved on from Ross, still talk about the things they learned in his class. As for the kings/queens, the majority of students find it a fun and healthy competition, and in my experience, each student found the rewards attainable goals for all. If ever they get to a true state competition, it's a gentle test of their ability to handle the competition that all 'winners' (queens or kings?) will endure. As for the test scores, it's the measuring stick current Ross parents wished for in a new leader, and she's done an admirable job --I wish her luck with her families.
--Submitted by Maureen Diner, a parent

DC CAS is finally over! As raising the scores by 20 points was the focal point of the school this year, teachers taught to the test and no more. A very small school of 134 students has a literacy coach and 2 full time ESOL teachers yet everyone in the class was expected to do the exact same activity. Science is quite scant. The teacher uses a bulletin board of science queens, kings, princes and princesses to show students' progress. When I asked the teacher why my child's name was nowhere to be found, he made a loadful of complaints about my childs lack of involvement and work habits. He was not interested when I told him my child was in ESOL. I discussed this specific matter with the administration severak tunes but saw no improvement or results. ROSS ES website is wonderful but unfortunately does not reflect reality.
--Submitted by a parent

I feel that there is a lot of work to be done to get everyone on one accord. The school is more concerned with AYP DC CAS AND BAS test scores there is no time to focus on teaching the children a steady curriculum. The kids have to deal with a power hour in aftercare that they no longer go over homework' We parents work longer hours and pay for aftercare because it provided a time for homework. We are not asking for much.
--Submitted by a parent

I feel very fortunate to have gotten my daughter into Ross. She is in Pre-K 4 this year. Her pre-K 4 teacher is fabulous! And, all of my daughter s other teachers -- Spanish, science, phy-ed--are wonderful too. The new principal has a vision for the school and is working hard to make the vision a reality. The entire faculty is working hard to make this a top notch school. The school is incredibly diverse and has good parent involvement.
--Submitted by a parent