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Schools and Education General Discussion
Spring Hill Elementary in McLean?
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Anonymous
| We're considering this school district and would love to hear any experiences and feedback. Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
| We're in McLean as well - I would also love to hear about this school. |
Anonymous
| Any info on Spring Hill elementary would be greatly appreciated. We are considering it for Kindergarten. |
Anonymous
| bump |
Anonymous
| I have two children at Spring Hill. Kindergarten is nice. Very traditional program not that heavy on academics but nurturing and a good introduction to school. Overall the school is a very nurturing environment they are extremely focused on character education and creating a "feel good" place for kids. The GT coordinator is also nice and we have a robust Level IV program. I don't think many folks leave for Churchill and from what I have read we have plenty to fill a whole class plus. They start ability grouping for Math in first grade by giving the kids "pretests". The entire first grade is involved and the kids switch teachers quarterly. Language arts is ability grouped within the classroom but the differentiation is not as noticeable as the Math. Overall the teachers are nice and the administration is supportive. |
Anonymous
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Apologize for the necro-post, but I figured others might be looking for the same information. I have one child at Spring Hill who just finished kindergarten there. They added another kindergarten class last fall (to a total of 5) and I believe the enrollment is expected to remain large enough to justify five classes again this coming fall. I have found the K teachers to be accessible, friendly, and my daughter had a wonderful time last year. The school is rather large for an elementary school (about 925 kids?) but it never feels as large as it is.
The principal and his staff are somehow able to know everyone's name and are very engaged. I had a couple of issues that troubled me at the beginning of the school year and sent a letter to the principal explaining my concerns. I had a response from him addressing each of my points in my mailbox two days later. The PTO is very active, but it can be hard to find opportunities to contribute if both parents work. I found the K teachers to be as the previous poster described, very nuturing and focused on making sure the kids have a chance to do their best. I have no qualms about sending my second child there next fall as well. |
Anonymous
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Thank you to the 2 posters providing information! Since you've been kind enough to post once, I'm hoping you'll check back and tell us more.
Can you tell us anything about teacher/student ratios for kindergarten? Can you tell us anything about the science program? Also, there's a chance that we'd move over the district line in 2 years. IF DC has qualified for the GT program and been in it for a year at Spring Hill, do you happen to know if he'd be able to remain? (Since I understand that children are bused to GT centers from throughout the county)? What are the opportunities to learn a foreign language? |
Anonymous
Spring Hill students have the option of staying at Spring Hill for Local Level IV GT services or going to the Churchill GTC. If you move out of boundary for Spring Hill, it is unlikely you would be able to stay there unless you had situation like a before or after school care provider lives in boundary for Spring Hill. If you move OOB to Spring Hill, but still inbounds to the Churchill GTC, they would stay at the GTC. So if you plan to move into a school dsitrict that would not be in boundary to Spring Hill, but would be in bouncary to the Churchill GTC, I would probably go ahead and send my kid to the GTC. If you plan to move to an area OOB to the Churchill GTC, then it doesn't really matter. But given the overcrowding in many schools and many GTCs, it is unlikely you would be allowed to stay (unless you have an inboundary care giver). |
Anonymous
|
14:29 poster here.
The school added the fifth kindergarten the week before school started last year mainly to keep the ratio smaller in the kindergartens. They had an influx of children registering for kindergarten at the last minute (my guess is people decided not to go the private K route due to the economy....). Without the extra K they would have had nearly 29 kids in each class. As it was, I believe it was about 24 - 25 kids in each class, with a teacher and an assistant. I'm relatively new to the school, so I'm not an expert on their science program. I do know that even in kindergarten, there is a dedicated science teacher who comes weekly/biweekly(?) to the classes. DD learned about the three forms of water and they did experiments, turning ice to water to steam. I know even less about the GT aspects as my DD is too young to have been tested. |