Beethoven Plan in Walnut Creek Towns by Ryan Homes
Christiansburg, VA 24073

We have three children and all have gone to FBE their entire elementary school experience, including the pandemic and the academic aftermath of that period. I have great faith in and thanks for FBE. I can’t say the same for all of the Christiansburg school system. I am glad my children have the opportunity to experience this fine school, its staff, and leadership. I have had some disagreements at times with MCPS academic policy and have been open with the teachers that my home values sometimes support more wholistic learning goals than some of the more prescriptive SOL-based education. The FBE teachers have always been very understanding and we’ve been able to maintain constructive partnerships that I believe my children have benefited from. We’ve never had an extraordinary bullying experience that wasn’t appropriately resolved and there have been a couple of small instances where our own children have made poor decisions and the school has been quite supportive and helpful in correcting the behavior and helping the child understand why a particular rule exists. I do not have experience with the special education resources of the school so I have rated them in the middle of the road. I have, however, seen counselors pull my children in to help strengthen their friends when going through a particularly tough time (always after asking for our consent). I believe those experiences have had positive effects on both my children and their friends. It has been comforting to know that such tactics and resources are available should our children ever need them. The school leadership goes out of its way to develop relationships with the children and even regularly encourages them on into middle and high school. The children genuinely like their principal and vice principal. This is a wonderful elementary school.

Christiansburg High School has some serious issues, and the biggest problems come from the way it’s run. The administration consistently fails to address student concerns. There’s a clear lack of accountability from leadership. When problems are brought forward, they’re often dismissed, delayed, or handled in ways that don’t actually solve anything. Another major issue is the inconsistency in how rules are enforced. Some students are held to strict standards while others seem to get away with the same behavior.

My son had a terrible time at this school. He missed the first year of middle school due to Covid, but when he went for 7th grade, it was a nightmare. He was targeted by some of the staff there who then made it their daily mission to make him miserable. He went from being on the A/B Honor Roll to getting bad grades. It got so bad that they put him in Montgomery Central. After a short time at Mont C, he went back to As and Bs.The female assistant principal disliked my son and made his life a living nightmare there. He is now in another school (we moved) and is thriving after only a few days of the new school year.