Potomac View Elementary School

Great I get treated very well at this school and so do my kids

This school has exhibited very minimal competency in handling children with special needs. It's very difficult on 2e students who have both special education needs and gifted education needs. Compounding this issue is the number of non-English speaking students, slowing down course instruction, leaving advanced students bored with having to repeat the same material or spend too much time on one topic area. There is little communication between parents and teachers in terms of what is being taught in the classroom. They used to send a weekly newsletter home, but we have not seen it sent home with out child in weeks. Class webpages have not been updated in months. The school is also quick to get social services involved. I had CPS calling me at work when my child went to school with a scratch on his face that he got from the playground. I had to watch him like a hawk at the community playground after that because I feared the school calling CPS on me again if he got another scrape. Boys cannot be boys anymore? Getting a scratch while playing outside means I'm a neglectful parent? They need to calm down and not try to ruin someone's family over what amounts to literally nothing. This school is incredibly unorganized and inefficient. I am in the process of transferring my child to another school. Do not send your child here.

Teachers are there for a paycheck and nothing more. As soon as the last school bus pulls out, the building is a ghost town. They have no concept of how to be authoritative, and any behavior issue, big or small, the parent is called and expected to fix anything that happened in the classroom. For instance, recent progress report says that my child is often "wandering around the classroom during independent work" and that I should address this with him. Yet she has never tried to re-direct him because she is too busy with the kids who need extra help at the end of the day to do so. (This is from her mouth). There are no text books, and I have no idea what or how my children are learning. I've had numerous meetings with the teachers and administration requesting additional information and to be informed of their assignments, to which I'm told I don't need to know because it's all individual work. Then, when an assignment isn't completed, they contact me to "encourage" my kids to get their work done. School started end of August and it was early October before I was informed that my one child hadn't turned something in. When I asked for clarification on the assignment (since he was just sent home with a piece of paper and a concept map) I was again, told that he knew and understood the assignment and that I didn't need to know what was expected of him.Overall this school is terrible. Their test scores are below par, they are over crowded, understaffed and expanding the student base before hiring additional teachers and staff. The communication (or lack there of) with the staff and admin has gotten so bad, I've had to hire a lawyer to be my mediator and ensure that my children have an advocate for them, as the school no longer listens to me. (And I'm not just a PITA parent, I volunteer 10+ hours a week there).

Teachers are very nice. The food is great. The school is awesome. The school is safe :) Good Job