Severn Elementary School

excellent teachers, awesome staff, amazing teaching techniques.. both my kids are in the school and love their teachers.

My daughter is in the kindergarten class and loves her teacher!

A 3-star at best. The schools in this area get poor school ratings on legitimate school rated sites (not parent-rated like this one). PROS: I have 2 children that attend/have attended this school, and can say they were lucky to have good teachers that excelled above the majority here. The Admin staff is pleasant and accommodating. Principal and many teachers genuinely care about educating students make the effort, but seem to feel limited in resources and poor curriculum requirements from the school system as some have expressed. CONS: Lack of parental involvement and participation (in school and at home with practice/homework is evident at functions and performances). Teacher instruction is there, parental reinforcement as a whole, is not, and it shows. :-( Several children in several classes have behavior issues and are just tolerated and passed along (remember...no child left behind!), so teachers spend most of their time with these students and the more advanced students or focused ones are left to teach and entertain themselves. PARCC (which replaced the MSAs) scores are low, STEM and other Magnet programs have low acceptance into middle schools because of the poor performance. This school needs a lot of work to raise its scores and ratings, but it will be a challenge over the next few years given the demographics of the area (military, transient students, lower income housing, lack of involvement from parents) and the high crime rate in the area which affects the housing market and influx of people. Many residents in this district enroll their children in private or charter schools for better educational opportunities. My child is about to graduate elementary school and cannot tell me where certain states are located, who the VP of the U. S. is, do long division and other standard level math problems, or even name the capital of Maryland! Very disappointing. Our 3rd child attends private school, and the difference is remarkable. enrolled in AP classes, is excelling far beyond our 2 in the public school system, and is being groomed for top colleges in the U.S. I wish I could afford to send all 3 to private schools. Sorry, Severn...I see potential in the staff here, but the school system and area limit this school from achieving above average ratings. Best of luck in the future.

Overall, this is a great school. There are some excellent, educated and devoted teachers at this school. The curriculum is strong and my child seems to be thriving. The principal is very involved and communicates often with the families. That being said, I have seen during lunch and recess, teachers yelling and degrading the students, many of which are only in Kindergarten or 1st grade. I also see problems with parent involvement, as the PTA is virtually non-existent, with only a handful of parents showing up at any given meeting..

The school seems to be average. Some teachers are really good. At least 1 is not. This teacher unnecessarily intimidates the children and frequently excessively scolds thems for petty reasons. This teacher makes children face walls with feet spread, placing their hands on the wall police suspect style. Even if it's a freezing cold brick wall in the shade outside during wintertime. Other teachers witnessing this have not been dutiful enough to report this very inappropriate practice.