Greenbelt Elementary School

Posted: September 4, 2023

Posted: September 4, 2023

Posted: September 4, 2023

Posted: September 4, 2023

Posted: September 4, 2023

Posted: September 4, 2023

Posted: September 4, 2023

Posted: September 4, 2023

Great community, and the teachers administrators and counselors are unbelievably involved. They use up to date teaching methods. (I can tell, because none of them existed when I was in school.) I wish recess were a lot longer, but I guess that's a county-wide problem.

Posted: July 27, 2022

Posted: July 27, 2022

Posted: July 27, 2022

Posted: July 27, 2022

Posted: July 27, 2022

Posted: July 27, 2022

Posted: July 27, 2022

Posted: July 27, 2022

My son has had a good experience here and two terrific teachers for 2nd and 3rd grade, and good specialists as well for Russian, P.E., Art, Music etc. He had some learning delays and got the help he needed quickly and improved his reading quickly.

Posted: February 11, 2018

Posted: February 11, 2018

Posted: February 11, 2018

Posted: February 11, 2018

Posted: February 11, 2018

Posted: February 11, 2018

Posted: February 11, 2018

I have had two children at this school and been an active member of the PTA. I have found the staff and administration to be dedicated and responsive and the teachers to go above and beyond for their students.

Posted: March 1, 2017

My son has had an excellent experience in his first year and we are very grateful for a passionate principal and dedicated, caring staff and teachers.

Posted: March 1, 2017

Posted: March 1, 2017

Posted: March 1, 2017

Posted: March 1, 2017

Posted: March 1, 2017

My son has a wonderful, caring and fun teacher that sets high standards without pressure.

Posted: March 1, 2017

The homework given in kindergarten was helpful to engage parents with what students are doing in class and was kept light.

Posted: February 13, 2017

Greenbelt Elementary has a dedicated principal who goes the extra mile. She hires super teachers and strives to finds ways for all children no matter what their level to learn and grow. My two children are thriving and have had very positive experience. I like that they can walk to school and know the families in their neighborhood. I like the new initiatives, like arts integration, that make learning meaningful. Parents are involved too, which makes a big difference.

Posted: February 13, 2017

I do not think that bullying is an issue at our school.

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

We have a wonderful and dedicated principal.

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

The teachers I know are committed and hard-working.

Posted: February 13, 2017

My kids don't have too much homework. The teachers they have had are willing to talk about any issues.

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

The teachers are very caring and dedicated. My son is always treated like an individual. My son is in TAG and I'm proud that the school received EGATE certification (Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education).

The office staff remembers my name when I go to visit, and we truly feel like part of the community.

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

Posted: February 13, 2017

We are thrilled with the education our child is receiving at GES. In our third year, all three teachers have had different teaching styles, but all have been attentive, creative, emotionally invested, and have challenged our child while making learning fun and engaging. The administration is sound and available to parents as well as kids. While at GES my child has learned Russian, art, music, dance, science, math, and can read, spell, and write far better than I could at her age. We're very impressed by the principal, Ms. Gaines who does a stellar job of hiring a great staff, including parents and guardians, and constantly looking for ways to improve the school. There's a very active PTA and they work well with the school administration. I feel the school is very safe and that the whole staff is student-focused.

Posted: February 12, 2017

Posted: February 12, 2017

Posted: February 12, 2017

Posted: February 12, 2017

GES is an excellent school - we have two children here and have been very happy with our experience so far. Ms. Gaines, our principal, is extremely dedicated. She hires effective and caring teachers, treats students and parents with respect, and works hard to make sure every dollar of her budget gets put to good use. GES is an arts-integrated school (meaning that the arts are incorporated into teaching plans for all subjects), is working toward the Green School certification, and has an active PTA. Another plus is that recess was recently increased from 15 to 30 minutes!

Posted: February 12, 2017

Ms. Gaines is a decisive and caring leader.

Posted: February 12, 2017

Teachers and administration here work hard to promote respect and kindness amongst students.

Posted: February 12, 2017

Most of the teachers here are excellent!

Posted: December 14, 2014

This is my son's second year, and I am very happy with Greenbelt Elementary School. He's had excellent teachers and bright classmates. I've been impressed with the family and community involvement at the school. Our biggest complaint so far has been that our son has too much homework, and some of it seems inappropriately advanced for his grade level.

Posted: September 29, 2014

We have been researching this school as we consider options for our 3 year old. Based on recent and very positive reviews of several neighbors and friends with kids at GES, it appears this school has really improved the past few years. The test 2014 scores (well above the state average and on par with many of the better school districts) back this up. In addition to the better scores, they have added more arts and music classes, and parental involvement is quite strong.

Posted: June 30, 2013

My daughter will be starting her 4th year at GES this fall and I have thus far been happy. All of her teachers have been very communicative and accessible. My daughter is enthusiastic about going to school each day and is always eager to share the day's events over dinner. I have no complaints!

Posted: January 28, 2013

All in all a good school. The problems are rooted in the fact that it is a public school and has to comply with regulations that don't necessarily benefit the students. Too much state testing, not enough flexibility. Kids have to be totally quiet traveling between classes and speak softly in the dinnng hall because lunch times have to be staggered, this coupled with a riidiculously short reces, makes for some stifled kids. An impossible balancing act. Yes, kids in the halls at GES are silent, in the dining hall they are quiet, in the classrooms they are quiet, on the way to the playground use soft voices, then for the 10 minutes in the playground they can let off steam. All this in a 6 hour day, with a slight reprieve in PE and music. None of these things are the school's "FAULT" but they are reality. Of course there are some teachers who communicate better than others. My personal preference is for the principal to be more hands on and more involved in resolving communication problems. We now homeschool in order to provide a more child friendly learning environment. Our daughter loved GES but says she much prefers homeschool.

Posted: January 28, 2013

I'm posting this because the earlier reviews were several years old and there is now a new principal since those postings. A parent in our local community listserve was looking for a review and called attention to this so I am probably joining other parents who are now proactively posting reviews about our experiences. We have had a very good experience with GES. Our son is now in 4th grade and I will unequivocally state that every year I have been impressed with the quality of his teachers. This could just be dumb luck or it could be indicative of high quality across the board. There are things I don't love (limited recess, worksheets galore), but my son's attitude, his positive experiences and the consistent enthusiasm he has for learning far outweigh the negatives. I also believe the strongest shaping force of how a child learns is the support of their parents and GES has a pretty active PTA. We are committed to helping our son embrace the importance of a love for learning, personal responsibility, integrity and self-initiative so the school's philosophy fits well for our parenting style.

Posted: January 27, 2013

I whole-heartedly encourage families to stay in Greenbelt and send their children to our local school. Our second-grader has had a very positive experience so far. She had some adjustment issues when she started kindergarten and the principal, guidance counselor, and classroom teacher really worked with her to help her feel comfortable and confident at school. The school is safe, orderly, and quiet and students are engaged and learning. They have a Positive Rewards Behavior Program so there is a lot of emphasis on prizes for good behavior rather than punishment for bad. This is a very diverse school -racially, culturally, and socio-economically. That is an educational opportunity in and of itself. It is a community school! That means you know other families, can make friends right in the neighborhood, can walk to school (or short ride), participate more easily in your child s education. The staff are very committed to the kids and their education and the more people who get involved, the better it will be. Our daughter loves school -her current teacher is wonderful- we even passed up on a spot at the TAG school to keep her here since she is so happy.

Posted: January 27, 2013

I consider Greenbelt Elementary School as an oasis in a desert of PG County budget and social issues. The school has a high academic ranking and is driven by the local support of parents and community. Both my children have expanded academic and extracurricular opportunities at GES more so than my eldest child had at a limited local private school. The atmosphere is clean, vibrant, safe and educational from the moment you walk in the door. No school can completely substitute for a supportive learning environment at home; however, GES is the closest I have seen in over 14 years of having children in both private and public schools. My only complaint would be that the school, like other public and private schools in this area, has to try too hard to cater to families who just want a babysitter rather than an education for their child.

Posted: January 27, 2013

I have found the new leadership at Greenbelt Elementary School to be implementing a lot of positive changes. The communication between the teachers and parents has improved drastically with weekly emails outlining what the kids will be learning as well as helpful links to websites with games kids can use to further their knowledge or skills. We use these at home to continue to challenge our kids. The teachers our kids have are doing a lot of innovative things including more hands on work and differentiating learning to help keep kids excelling based on their reading or math level for instance. I think the teachers and staff are very dedicated and the PTA continues to help support the work of the school with some volunteers helping to incorporate more art into the classroom for example. More parental/volunteer involvement is always welcome. The PTA meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm. Also, check out mdreportcard.org for our school's most recent data as well as comparisons to all PGCPS and MD schools. We have been very happy with the school overall.

Posted: March 1, 2011

My older son goes to this school and I am an involved parent. With over 600 students in the school, only about 10 (yes only 10 not even 10%) parents regularly attend the PTA meeting monthly. Only they show interest in their child's and school's development and other activities? I am surprised what the others do? may be many parents are not well-educated? Principal's involvement is excellent and she is friendly. I have experience with only a couple of teachers. one of the KG teacher was very dynamic and challenged the students well. the things that we hate now are: having substitutes in the class many times. insufficiently challenging the students. and insufficiently paying attention to students showing interest in studying. low standard peers in the class(lacks peer competition). insufficient teacher involvement in educating the child if he/she does not understand a concept after the testing is done. thats what teaching is, right? homework is far less. my son finishes his weekly homework on the 1st day and the on the rest of the week only reading.

Posted: November 4, 2010

How come children are given homework that they don't know to do? The teachers are not teaching or meeting the thresholds established by the county instead they forcing the work as homework on the kids and these kids are moving through the school without fully grasping the concept. No guidance is given to these children. Just lots of homework which I guess they expect them to be self thought and in the end tested. This school need academic reassessment they are not teaching on graded level as I've seen in other schools.

Posted: September 2, 2010

I rate this school half star There is an immense disparity among certain class of children which is impacting the academic progress. Teachers don t acknowledge or foster any level of communication with parents I ve written my concerns and never received an acknowledgement. I think this school is being rated blue-ribbon because of its community / class/ location. My three children have attended without much progress academically. It seems the academic progress is fully dependent on the parents. So why send children to school? My last child is still attending this school and is frustrated not knowing what is expected off him: other than read 20 mins daily. Learning is dependent on homework too much homework for 6&7 years old teachers are more out than in and so the child s academics are stagnant. No guidance and instructions on homework are provided.

Posted: July 25, 2010

The teachers and staff are excellent and dedicated. A core group of parents is strongly involved. As other reviews point out, the problem is the peer group of students who seem to come to school with no idea of standards of behavior and discipline. The staff did work to solve the bullying problem that my son experienced, but I was shocked to see the behavior that went on as early as the Kindergarten level. It's a good school, but demands a lot of viligence and attention from parents--above and beyond what you normally exercise as a parent