Venable Village Elementary School

My son has been at Venable for 2 years now and has done great. His teachers have always had open communication on where he is in class and what he needs to work on. Love it.

Teachers are fantastic, but the overall school culture is severely lacking. Office staff has considerable rudeness. There is a big feeling of US vs Them and an invisible wall. No smiles, no friendliness. Parental involvement doesn't exist. The rules the have to keep parents away and out are excessive. Other schools in the district have a much more open policy and are able to do this without, 'the distraction of parents around' - I really feel that school and home should be on the same page... we all have the same common goal, but this school just leaves you feeling like you are an outsider that has no right or privilege to be involved in the process. Im not saying I want to be there everyday and overlook their shoulders, but maybe once a month be allowed to participate for an hour. Disappointing. We have since enrolled our child in another school- and its a much better environment. Its a shame.

This school is so unorganized! They fail to let parents know when the bus is running 45 minutes late. They failed to call me to let me know that my son couldn't ride the bus, because they messed up his paperwork. They work with bad copies where sometimes half of the letters are missing or they have major errors in them. The kids barely have playtime (about 10 minutes on the playground, but only if your child is good, if not they have to sit quietly in another room) in PreK but take 2 hour naps and watch tv. They also inform you 1 day prior that they need you to bring something in. I could go on. That is the worst school I've dealt with so far. Excuse my English. It is my second language.

My child was a transfer student there from Pre K to 2nd grade. He had the best teachers who worked with him and pushed him to his full potential. These teachers genuinely care about their students.