Westchester Elementary School

Posted: July 21, 2020

Posted: July 21, 2020

Posted: July 21, 2020

Posted: July 21, 2020

Posted: July 21, 2020

Posted: July 21, 2020

Posted: July 21, 2020

My experience has been wonderful with both of my children at Westchester.

Posted: November 20, 2019

Amazing experience - my kids have gone since KG and teachers are loving and caring. Overall, staff are courteous and programs are robust

Posted: November 20, 2019

Great teacher involvement at the school and administration great!

Posted: November 20, 2019

Ms Santos and Mullen are awesome!
Wish we could keep them forever

Posted: November 20, 2019

Posted: November 20, 2019

Mr Byers and team are excellent
VP and leads are great

Posted: November 20, 2019

Posted: November 20, 2019

Posted: June 12, 2018

not too much homework, which is important in my view. Don't get caught in the "Race to Nowhere"

Posted: June 12, 2018

We have 2 kids at this school and all of their teachers have been great. Very involved and caring

Posted: June 12, 2018

Posted: June 12, 2018

New Principle has made a positive difference

Posted: June 12, 2018

Posted: June 12, 2018

Posted: June 12, 2018

We've had a great experience at Westchester. The teachers are involved and truly care about the kids. The new Principle has made a positive difference in the past few years. My only complaint is the class sizes are a bit large (22-27 kids), but probably similar to other schools in the area. Most of the other kids at school appear engaged and respectful.

Posted: January 28, 2018

Posted: January 28, 2018

Posted: January 28, 2018

Posted: January 28, 2018

Posted: January 28, 2018

Posted: January 28, 2018

Posted: January 28, 2018

The school pats itself on the back and awards itself for being a non-bullying school, when that is not the case. The kids have "roasting sessions" where they gain up on one kid and try to humiliate him/her. They don't want a reputation for bullying or have to log it, so the school's administration claims that parents don't know the difference between bullying and kids "just being rude" to your child. Until it escalates to your child getting physically assaulted does the school do anything about it. There is a strong sense of parent/child vs. admin/teacher conflict when there is a problem. Vile things are said in the classroom which certain teachers ignore. The school gets very defensive when you ask about or address certain issues. (At one point, the assistant principal insisted that my child wasn't telling the truth, until it was proven otherwise.) The school backs the teachers instead of your child if something happens in the classroom such as bullying, something stolen/taken (your child will instead be blamed for a lack of responsibility), harsh remarks by a teacher that were not professional or necessary, etc. If the school would just work on these issues and realize that the teachers are there to monitor their classrooms as well as teach, then they would not have to be on the defense constantly. Instead they will claim that it is not their responsibility, but your child's to act accordingly whether they are a victim or not.

Posted: May 17, 2014

Westchester has great teachers in spite of the administration. As long as your child does not miss school for illness or death in the family, your child will learn a lot. The attendance policy is if your child 's overall attendance drops below 96% or if you child misses more than 3 days in a quarter, you get a letter sent home, a possible notation on you child's permanent record (report card) that attendance needs improvement and a possible visit from a BCPS employee to your home. Also, the no snack policy in the school is hard on young kids that could go as long as 5+ hours without access to food. For example, your 7 year old child eats breakfast at home (or at the before care program) at Westchester at 8am. They catch the bus at 8:45. You child may not get lunch until 1:15. Until late in the 2013-14 school year, children with late lunch periods had a late morning snack to hold them over, but that has been eliminated. Parents have tried to implement a healthy food allergy free snack program in the school but the administration does not want to make the effort.