Debold Rd
Smithsburg, MD 21783

Catoctin has been incredibly...average. Some teachers are really wonderful (the best teachers usually end up leaving) and some are really awful. If you have the means to send your children somewhere else, do it. The arts are extremely underfunded, the athletic director favors male sports, and the administrators are not as effective as they should be.

Our family has attended SES since it became a charter school in 2022. While there have been a few growing pains with the school transitioning to the charter system, we really feel this is the best place for our kids and this year has been solid. The relationships between students and teachers seem to be more positive at SES than the others schools we have attended in the county. The smaller class sizes have helped limit distractions for my child with ADHD. His grasp of material has grown tremendously since he's been here. The math curriculum the school follows is sensible, and the kids seem to have more time outside with the added environmental block. THEY HAVE THEIR OWN GREENHOUSE! How cool is that? My only real complaint is the drive, but honestly it's been worth it.

There are a lot of kids who are very unkind. The staff members are very nice and understanding though. The school is big, it is a 2 story building. I love this school because there are so many great teachers and so many good electives to choose from. The teachers at this school try to make learning fun by making games for review or making songs to help us remember vocab. The staff at this school are amazing. Some of the students in this school are unkind. I come home and as I am doing my homework (we get a lot of homework) I reflect on my day, sometimes I start crying, sometimes I scream, and sometimes I just try to ignore it. The students at this school have so much drama. This is a good school but make sure you get the right friend group and be careful who you mess with.