Flower Valley Elementary

This school continues to impress me with their strong sense of community. The teachers have been very responsive to our concerns. I truly believe that our child is getting a great education.

I have two children currently attending Flower Valley Elementary School (FVES), and I’d strongly recommend it without any reservations. Over the last four years, I’ve been very impressed by the dedication, professionalism, and commitment of FVES’s leadership and staff. At FVES, my children have received a top-notch rigorous academic education in a peaceful learning environment where school leaders and staff teach children to respect and celebrate diversity. I love the fact that FVES incorporates a “Peace Pledge” that children learn and recite daily at school and the principles underlying that Pledge are reinforced throughout the school year by way of rewarding students for good, peaceful behavior with “Peace Tokens,” “Fine Line Rewards,” and “Fine Dining Rewards.” I also love the diversity of the Flower Valley neighborhood, which is reflected in both the staff and students at FVES. Most significantly, however, I am impressed with the rigorous academic instruction and nurturing learning environment that my children have received over the last four years at FVES. I can honestly say that my children have always felt that their FVES teachers truly cared about them, loved teaching, and were committed to making a difference. And, as a parent, I believe that my children have received an excellent elementary education and are well-prepared for middle school and beyond. I have found that the current principal and other leaders of the school are consummate professionals who are extremely responsive to parent questions and concerns. The PTA is very involved. This is evident through numerous PTA-founded school activities that children can attend, often without any admission fees. In sum, I strongly recommend FVES and will be sad when my children “graduate” and move onto middle school.

We have continued to be disappointed with the academics at this school. Our child has been here for 2.5 years and still struggles with basic kindergarten type reading after 8 months of communicating with the principal and finally the LD coordinator for the county, we are finally getting testing within 60 days. We continue to wonder how this could have gone on for so long that our child is now at the lowest reading level in his class after repeatedly voicing concerns to both his kindergarten and 1st grade teachers. We have been repeatedly told that it is normal and yet we are now being told that he is at the bottom of his class in reading and has to have an entirely different curriculum from the rest of the class. Finally, after complaining to the county coordinator for Learning Disabilities, we received action in the form of testing, but it still appears that our son will not be receiving the assistance that he needs until the end of the school year. Although there is great focus on time for academics to the point that the children barely have time to bolt down a decent meal, it is unclear what exactly my child has learned in the school. There are constantly other activities going on, and testing. At the open house day, they had no curriculum because the computer technology had a glitch. The teacher was unable to teach the class ad hoc. It is disconcerting that for as much is paid in taxes in Montgomery County that the education is so poor. The leadership at the school seems ineffective. The teachers do not seem have the proper support or oversight, and as a result my child is suffering academically and wasting his days in this frustrating environment where limited additional support (25 minutes, 3 days a week) is received because of the 'process' that has taken 2.7 years. I am so tired of the phrase-'will grow out of it.' We have constantly been fed the line that our child will grow out of it. This is not even to mention the limited oversight on the playground during recess where numerous incidences occur with very little adult support. We were told there was no money for additional oversight of the playground. I would say that unless you have a highly motivated student that is a self starter avoid this school at all costs.