Odessa Shannon Middle School

My son w/ IEP and 1 on 1 aide is in homeschool program at Glen Haven. He is able to participate with ease thanks to the amazing support he gets from the school. We feel welcomed, a sense of belonging to the school environment. He is improving in math and improved his grades compared to the previous Learning Center he was attending. This says a lot because Learning Center curriculum is easier and more broken down for kiddos like mine.

I have several children who have attended MCPS schools. Glenallan is by far the most outstanding. Each morning when my daughter leaves for school I am filled with feelings of happiness, pride, and confidence that she will learn and grow. Mr. Moran greets her by name every time he sees us. He knows how she is doing in class and even congratulated me on her assessment score! He makes my daughter feel important and the teachers she has had believe the same and demonstrate it through their actions. I am so proud to be a member of the community!

Es muy buena escuela, el Director es una persona bien preparada y siempre esta al tanto de todo, personal administrativo es una excelencia, siento que mi hija esta en un lugar seguro y lleno de amor y cuidado.

I have been really happy with my experience at Arcola Elementary. I've been very pleased to see how aware the school is of families' differing economic constraints and the efforts made to ensure all students have access to resources. For example, last year all students received a backpack with school supplies. This ensured that students had the materials they needed for a successful year, without drawing attention to which students had more need than others. I'm also excited to see how the PTA has grown this past year, particularly its impressive fundraising efforts. They were able to fund a lot of great programs and activities that benefited the children's learning. Also important-- the teachers are great! I really appreciate the communication I received from my daughter's teacher. Whenever I reached out with a question, I always received a prompt reply. Finally, I'm thrilled with the great introduction to learning my child received this past year. My child's reading and math skills have improved significantly this past year, and I can't wait to see what she learns in 1st grade.

I hate to write a bad review because when I came to this school I had high hopes. I starting at this school in 2021. The first year was fine during virtual learning .The second year things started to go downhill.They sat with me to tell me they thinkmy child should get tested. Not really much other info so I went to a pediatrician where the school and his doctor suggested to go to child find.I went immediately and got him tested they said he would not be eligible to get an IEP.So then I went to child link a few months later but because the school was not responsive fast enough I lost that opportunity because he aged out. So over the summer of 2022 I tried getting private help, but everyplace that was suggested to me by friends, county or pediatrician. They had a waiting list 6 months to a 1 1/2 years or not taking new patients. So now the new year has started. And very quickly the complaints started about my child. I felt like the school was very much against me and treating my child like an outsider and it definitely started to show. Every complaint they had of my child I took seriously .While the principal kept giving me very vague answers and saying we don’t know how to help your child if we don’t know what he has. So at this point the school is telling me I need a diagnosis. So I tried calling childrens and Kennedy krieger. Both had waiting lists for more than a year. All the while , I started noticing my son was showing signs of stress and anxiety. It was heartbreaking. I tried reassuring him tried giving him encouraging talks about what was going on. Finally I decided to go back to the county after begging them to please take on my child application for an iep for the 3rd time.They decided to proceed with the testing. I was finally told that my child had adhd with some attributes of autism. So finally I was relieved to get an answer and thought the school would be happy that he got a diagnosis. After all that’s what they wanted.So after I notified the principal of the report all she sent back to me was“ Thanks.Yes, I would like the reports.I want to help you find the best placement for him based on what they say his needs are. “ which I thought she meant was find the right placement at her school “very vague. Turns out she meant that he can’t come to school next year .This was 2 wks before school started.the principal said is was because his diagnosis.I asked for a letter of denial they conveniently left out the reason. ThePrincipal ghosted me. Smh