Farmland Elementary School

Posted: April 23, 2024

Posted: April 23, 2024

Posted: April 23, 2024

Community is great. Lots of opportunity to volunteer and engage in your child’s education if you want. It’s a big school but classroom sizes are reasonable. The school offers many different experiences to learn; eg. field trips, stem weeks, peer groups, assembly's to name a few. We’ve had a great experience so far.

Posted: April 23, 2024

Posted: April 23, 2024

Posted: April 23, 2024

Posted: April 23, 2024

Posted: October 28, 2023

My children have gone to this school for many years, but over the past few years, there have been changes to the school that have significantly lowered my opinion of the school. The current principal clearly caters to the whims of white, wealthy parents. In the past, diversity was embraced, but now it is white-washed and ignored. Children used to learn about different cultures and traditions in their classrooms. Parent volunteers would come in share about different traditions in their cultures, kids would learn about the origins of the Hanukkah dreidel, they would do a craft for the Chinese New Year, and learn about why people celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Day of the Dead, or Diwali. However, that is gone now. There are no lanterns hanging for Chinese New Year. Children no longer celebrate Halloween by wearing costumes and participating in a parade. Kids no longer pass out cards spreading kindness on Valentine’s Day or do traditional holiday crafts, such as decorating boxes to collect Valentines. Classroom parties are on random days of the year and devoid of food (presumably because parents of wealthy kids think that their kids don’t need more sweets). This, of course, ignores the fact that cupcakes and candy are a treat for kids whose families who can’t afford them. These changes were supposedly made because Farmland is a diverse community and the school is trying to accommodate all families, but by ignoring cultural traditions, the opportunity to teach and embrace the traditions of others is lost. Kids are left to think that cultural traditions are things that you hide from others, because others may not like them. This year, they cancelled the open house for parents to come see what their kids do in the classroom during the school day. The announcement of the open house cancellation was made the day beforehand without explanation or consideration of the fact that some working parents took the day off work to come to the open house. They seem to assume that most parents who come to the open house don't work or have flexible work schedules. The school has a number of good teachers and overall, I have been happy with most of them. However, some of the good teachers have left to teach at other schools. The teachers are often the ones who have to announce and implement changes to school policies, and sometimes they seem to be left doing the dirty work of implementing policies and changes that are unlikely to be favorably received by parents at Farmland.

Posted: October 28, 2023

Posted: October 28, 2023

Posted: October 28, 2023

Posted: October 28, 2023

Posted: October 28, 2023

Posted: October 28, 2023

Posted: October 28, 2023

Posted: June 12, 2023

My son sis for second year in this school.We came from European country and the education here and in my country is completely. the first year was very hard for my son and my, without english, without friends and any information for the school system.But the teacher and the staff are very nice.They help me and my son a lot. The Communication with staff and teacher is great.We got emails for everything that it will be at school. The kids have time for fun and learning. This year me and my son Love our teacher.She is yang and very creative, she is send email every Sunday with all information about the next week. The only think that I don't like is that only book for homework that we have is only for Math.And i never know what actually my son studies in his English classes, his Science classes, his social study classes. And I felt completely uninformed and isolated from what was studied in school. My son he does not speak with me about his classes and I am uninformed about what they studied there. If i can offer them just to give the parent more information class by class what the kids study in every class.The community is very nice.Big families, nice location, it is close to a lot of parks, a lot of shops, restaurants and etc.

Posted: June 12, 2023

Posted: June 12, 2023

Posted: June 12, 2023

Posted: June 12, 2023

Posted: June 12, 2023

Posted: June 12, 2023

Posted: June 12, 2023

Posted: June 30, 2021

The staff at this school are unbelievably unprofessional and unreliable.

Posted: June 30, 2021

Posted: June 30, 2021

Posted: March 3, 2020

I give this school a 1 star. The school as a whole should be a reflection of all students. This school only caters to children of affluent backgrounds. As you will see from the overall rating on great schools lower income children don’t do as well. Children with learning disabilities aren’t properly assisted to work to their full potential. Additionally, if your child is African American they may have a hard time due to being a minority and the systematic racism the school is plagued with. Getting teased for having ethnic hair and skin is not addressed by the school. I mention African American because great schools doesn’t include this group in the ratings because of the low numbers. This school caters to only certain types of students, those types would be successful at this school. Anyone else that doesn’t fit into the box will not.

Posted: March 3, 2020

The approach is very unorganized and they don’t utilize a good system for parents to stay abreast with homework assignments.

Posted: March 3, 2020

Some teachers are good, but I’ve experienced some teachers that could be better. Unorganized, they don’t have control of classroom. Although, the class sizes are fairly large.

Posted: March 3, 2020

Posted: March 3, 2020

Posted: March 3, 2020

If your child has a learning difference this is one of the worst schools. They do not try to provide students with learning differences with basic needs. They don’t appear to know or follow basic laws governing children with special needs.

Posted: March 3, 2020

Posted: April 25, 2019

Posted: April 25, 2019

Posted: April 25, 2019

Posted: April 25, 2019

Posted: April 25, 2019

Posted: April 25, 2019

Posted: April 25, 2019

Excellent, we've put two kids through this school and getting ready to enter a 3rd.

Posted: December 6, 2016

December 2016 - Farmland School was honored by the Maryland State Dept. of Education by receiving a "BLUE Ribbon School" designation. Our daughter has been attending Farmland since Kgarten and is now in 3rd grade. In our 4 yr. experience we've been pleased with most the teachers, especially the recent hiring of young, energetic teachers who graduated with teaching degrees. Although they may not have in-depth classroom experience; they are eager and have taken a 'keen' interest in the children. I have witnessed their patience and kindness on many occasions. We are also very happy with the additional support provided by the School Counselor who has group lunches for the kids to discuss social topics so those subject don't interfere w/the learning environment. The international aspect does have a drawback as we have experienced the heartache of losing very good friends when the parents work-visa status is expiring and the family has to return to their home country. Tough life lessons of loss at tender ages which we were grateful to have the school counselor assist us in helping address.

Posted: December 6, 2016

Unfortunately, we have had several brushes with bullying. It is hard to tell how effect the school is dealing with this subject if it continues to happen.

Posted: December 6, 2016

Our child needs to be challenged or she becomes bored and unfocused. The last 2 teachers where very adapt at handling this situation and inspired more creativity.

Posted: December 6, 2016

The Principal, M. Bliss is very open and communicative about the school and the environment.

Posted: December 6, 2016

Posted: December 6, 2016

Out of the 6 Teachers our 3rd grader has had 3 out of the 5 truly cared for our child's educational & emotional well-being. They were very engaged in helping determine her strengths and weaknesses and working with her/us to develop those skills. The other 3 teachers I would rate as Neutral because they were all involved in a part-time situation; came in 1/2 way in the school year due to teacher transitions; etc. That could be the reason they did not display (to us or our daughter) a true "investment" in her learning.

Posted: December 6, 2016

In previous years, homework was a weekly package. Now in 3rd grade there is nightly (almost every night) homework that takes about 20 mins. We think the consistent approach is helping our daughter develop good daily study habits.

Posted: March 1, 2016

Posted: March 1, 2016

Posted: March 1, 2016

Posted: March 1, 2016

My daughter attends Farmland ES and she loves it. This school has an international feel, with a large proportion of families coming from NIH scientists or highly skilled professionals. So far all the teachers have been dedicated and wonderful to my kid. At the third grade level instruction is individualized to fit every kid's level in the class. The PTA organizes a lot of wonderful events, with a very special mention to the annual Science Fair that manages to gather half the school body together with parents in a single event. Our principal is very engaged in all these activities and she makes an effort to connect with children are many levels. For instance, this Summer my daughter finished a reading assignment that included sending a postcard to the principal. She made sure to replay to every single student with a very detailed response. I was very impressed by her dedication. We can be happier with the school.
To answer a previous comment about safety in the school, all doors at Farmland are locked and the only way in for people during school hours is through the front office.

Posted: August 12, 2015

I lived in Tilden Woods and attended Farmland Elementary over 3 decades ago. FANTASTIC school nestled in such a great neighborhood. The teachers and my memories were some of the best and couldn't have been more happier having attended. If I had children of my own, I'd move back just so that they could attend.

Posted: August 12, 2015

Posted: August 12, 2015

Posted: August 12, 2015

Best elementary school ever!! I attended and thought it was an experience childhood experience! Highly recommended!

Posted: January 1, 2014

Farmland is blessed with excellenta and dedicated teachers. School leadership however is mostly concerned with image however. For example, Farmland's leaders claim security a main priority, but my own observations indicate otherwise. Exterior door left open, front door locked opened for everyone without identifying themselves first, etc. Same goes for school bullying policy- leaders more concerned with advertising the policy rather than actual proper enforcement of policy. I observed fights on the playground where no one was sent to principals office- and ineffective adult supervision/control of lunch room and playground area. Another critical area that needs improvement (as with most public schools) is the school lunch program. Montgomery County really needs to get away from supporting big aggribussiness no matter what the Feds want to encourage, and support a healthier menu. We as a nation need to feed and teach proper nutrition and Montgomery County being a rather well off area of the country should be a leader in this endeavor and stop feeding kids pizza and mac and cheese. Farmland management officials must empower staff to practice and enforce the policies they preech.

Posted: April 16, 2012

We love this school. As the other reviewers have noted, there is a unique international spirit. The teachers are nurturing and engaged; there is a strong sense of community; and the diversity of students is enriching. My son started at Farmland after having attended two international schools in Africa and Asia - and felt right at home. This is as good, if not better, than those schools

Posted: February 9, 2012

Farmland is a great school. I have a kid in kindergarten and is extremely happy with the school curriculum. The teachers are great and very active.

Reviewed: November 10, 2016

Farmland is a really good school. The building is relatively new and the grounds are well maintained. The staff are great and really care about the students. This is a very international school so there are children here from close to 20 different countries. The PTA is very strong and plans many great activities to involve the students and families.