Westgate Elementary School

Posted: August 2, 2026

Not a very good school especially when it comes to managing students

Posted: August 2, 2026

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Posted: August 2, 2026

Posted: September 14, 2024

Great school for Special Education kids. Teachers review IEP every year and follow it accordingly. Special Ed kids sit in least restrictive environment and get maximum support they need. 10/10 recommend this school.

Posted: September 14, 2024

Posted: September 14, 2024

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Posted: October 16, 2023

My child has been attending Westgate since Kindergarten & is now an upper elementary student. He has been very happy at Westgate, has built a good social circle, likes his teachers & classes, & has had no complaints so far. We have had several opportunities to move him to other schools in the area that are supposedly "better", but we chose to keep him at Westgate because of the wonderful sense of community that we have experienced here. My only complaint is that the academic standards seem a bit lax in upper elementary (grades 4-6). Homework is inconsistent (some days they get some, other days they get nothing) & high-performing students don't seem to be challenged enough, even in the AAP program. We still prefer to keep our child in Westgate because he is happy & he is almost at the end of his elementary school journey, but my advice to Westgate would be to tighten its academic curriculum & becomes more serious about homework, assignments, etc. in the future, particularly for grades 4-6.

Posted: October 16, 2023

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Posted: September 18, 2023

We moved here last year from Europe. Our children did not speak any English at the time. As a Scandinavian military family we are allowed to put our children in private school (paid by our employer), but as Scandinavian countries is all about good public schools we wanted to try that here as well. We wanted our children to feel like they belong in the neighborhood and have friends from class close to their house to play with in the afternoons and on the weekends (not a fan of driving 20-30 min to get to school). We were a little bit worried about the school having a average rating, and was considering other neighborhoods just a few minutes from here with higher rated schools, but when we saw our house, the neighborhood and went to visit the school we were sold.

In the last year we have been so happy with the school, the progress our children have been making in school, the friends our children have made and the community feel of the school. Our children got accepted to language immersion at at neighboring school this year with much higher rating, but ultimately we decided to stay at Westgate, and we are happy with our decision. If you, as we were, are moving from somewhere else and considering Pimmit Hills zoned for Westgate I can only say good things about the school and the teachers my children have had. The school is very diverse, and feel that both our children and we as parents have learned so much about different cultures, countries, religions and a variety of educations, jobs and financial status in the last year, and that is something we really appreciate.

Posted: September 18, 2023

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Posted: June 26, 2020

We have two students going here for the past three years and have been very happy with the school. Our kids like going there, have strong connections with the teachers and other students and have been learning quite quickly. Westgate is also starting to do part-time Advanced Academic Placement courses within the school (i.e., not sending the AAP kids to Lemon), which is nice for the students who want to stay at Westgate with their friends.

Posted: June 26, 2020

Posted: June 26, 2020

The teachers have been great with the kids, supportive and taking the time to make sure they understand what’s being asked of them. They have also been very good with communicating with the parents. My two kids at Westgate have both loved their teachers.

Posted: June 26, 2020

The school teaches what it calls “The Westgate Way,” which is all about character building. The teachers and staff have also talked to students about importance of character and taught biographies in class to show strong moral action.

Posted: June 26, 2020

Posted: March 6, 2020

I can't wait to move this year and get my children in a better school!
If I had a choice right now we would not use this government school. There is somevery good private schools in the area butwas not able to get a slot in them.

Posted: March 6, 2020

My child dealt with a bully and to the best of my knowledge were stopped that. But I did have to activate action with the principle.

Posted: March 6, 2020

Many of the staff are not very good with children and they do not handle problems very well

Posted: March 6, 2020

This is not a school with leadersor teachers in would consider best of the best but rather many of them are not good at what they do!

Posted: March 6, 2020

Can't say for sure on this how they perform

Posted: March 6, 2020

They handled a situation for me about another child doing bad things to mine but this was only after involving school board

Posted: May 9, 2018

My son goes to this school . He improved and he loves this school.

Posted: May 9, 2018

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Posted: May 3, 2018

Posted: May 3, 2018

Positivity Project has bern a great adfition to the curriculum over past two years.

Posted: May 3, 2018

Posted: May 3, 2018

Posted: May 3, 2018

About 30 minutes per night, with erquest to also read 15 to 30 minutes independently as well depending on grade level.

Posted: May 3, 2018

Posted: May 3, 2018

Have thoroughly been pleased -- daughter has been here since kindergarten and will finish 6th grade this year.

Posted: November 15, 2017

Posted: November 15, 2017

Posted: November 15, 2017

Posted: November 15, 2017

Posted: November 15, 2017

Excellent school. The reason the rating is low is because is it based on only test scores and all the kids that get into the Advanced Academic programs leave in 3rd grade to go to the neighboring Lemon Rd school because it is an AAP center. So the Lemon Rd. rating is skewed high and the Westgate rating is skewed low.

Posted: November 15, 2017

Posted: November 13, 2017

My son in in AAP class 4thgrade. The teacher is very efficient and very much involved in every child's learning. She communicates the strengths and weaknesses of every child. Kudos to the teacher as she handles 24 students in her class.

Posted: November 13, 2017

Teachers are doing their best, but hiccups at times.

Posted: November 13, 2017

PTA is very effective and very well organised.

Posted: November 13, 2017

Posted: November 13, 2017

Posted: November 13, 2017

The school is extremely good. I wonder why it got this low rating. My son is in AAP class, 4th grade, and the teacher and curriculum are great. Teachers are very respectful and welcoming.There are a few rowdy children, it speaks about the families that they are coming from. I agree that the teachers are doing their best but need support of families/stricter policies.

Posted: November 13, 2017

Homeworks are challenging, effective and sufficient. Effectively revises what is learnt in classroom.

Posted: September 13, 2017

Excellent and dedicated teachers, Great environment for kids to grow and learn.

Posted: September 13, 2017

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Posted: September 8, 2017

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Posted: September 8, 2017

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Posted: September 8, 2017

We have been at westgate for almost 4 years now and our second child just entered the school. We have been very happy with the academics and community at the school.

Posted: July 10, 2017

Posted: July 10, 2017

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Posted: July 10, 2017

Posted: July 10, 2017

This school is great!! Rating went down only due to the county made lemon road gifted school. We and our kids love this school for it's leadership, administration and teachers!

Posted: December 15, 2015

My Kid growing happily and with good health at this school. Learning is fun for her at school!!!!

Posted: December 15, 2015

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Posted: December 21, 2014

The principal is very caring and willing to work with you if you have kids who have minor special needs and are highly functioning. The teacher's we have had so far are extremely good but we were very active in discussing our child's specific needs ahead of time. Our children have definitely learned a great deal and continue to thrive.

Posted: December 18, 2014

The school is ok, but far below other schools in Fairfax County. There are a lot of children who misbehave in the school and little done about the issues. Choir is a whole hour of the teacher yelling at children who misbehave instead of actually learning how to sing. Some teachers are amazing and others really don't want to be there. Its the luck of the draw which one you get.

Posted: November 23, 2014

I find the curriculum less than challenging, at least for my early-grades girl. The teachers seem most focused on lining up kids and keeping them completely quiet rather than working to ensure they're performing as well as they can. The classroom atmosphere is rather joyless and strict. I would like to see more enthusiasm from teachers, more creativity in lesson planning, and less command-and-control. I know small children can be unruly, but that's developmentally normal. Disturbingly, I overhear (perhaps because I'm the parent of a girl and teachers think I won't mind the comments), a LOT of disparaging comments about boys and their behavior. Would be great to see less judgment of boys as "bad" and more investigation into how to positively integrate boys into a proactive classroom setting. Good things: The new addition should lessen crowding. The frequency of gym class, art, and music is very compelling.

Posted: November 22, 2014

Teachers care about students and their learning which is very important to me. Mostly students treat each other with respect but they need to be closely monitored

Posted: November 22, 2014

Principal of the school focus more on parking lines rather than quality of education. AP coordinator is a joke and all teachers expect parents to teach their kids instead of them, then why do we even send our kids to the school. Rating went down from 9 to 7 major reorganization is needed in this school.

Posted: January 28, 2014

Not so good. Before moving hear I heard this school is best. But personally I dont feel that way. Teachers and staff are not so co operative. I have moved three diff state my son was in middletown school earlier which was really good school. In compare to that this school is not so good. Also teaching was great in Middletown than this school. I may be just me because I have experience with Middletown school. But one thing I am sure it snot so good rating so as per my personal opinion its average school.

Posted: December 15, 2012

We have been very happy with Westgate. It has an active, engaged administration, diverse student body and fantastic teachers. The students really embody the community spirit. So many students place into AAP that there are tentative plans to make Westgate an AAP center. The 2013 renovation is an added bonus. If you want your child to be involved in an enriched curriculum and be part of a culturally and socioeconomically diverse student body, then this school is a nice fit.

Posted: September 3, 2012

Excellent school and staff, only problem is there is no bus service for Pimmit Hill residents, older kids can walk but for kindergartners is a challenge. Planned rennovation hopefully will make it spacious and provide more parking.

Posted: August 22, 2012

My son studying in this school since 1 year. Westgate has good teachers, administrative staff and well designed educational programs which providing excellent knowledge and behavior in kids. We are observing lots of improvements in my child, Which really making us happy. All these are possible because of teachers' hard work and principal efforts.

Posted: January 4, 2012

The teachers are excellent here and my daughter has excelled immensely while completing her kindergarten and 1st grade year with them. The teachers are very hardworking and the principal and office staff are wonderful. It's an excellent school!

Posted: November 1, 2010

The teachers are hardworking. A lot of staff turnover has happened recently, but I know all the teachers that are still there from previous years are strong leaders. My child especially loved her first and second grade teachers.

Posted: May 4, 2010

A small school that is getting bigger yet the teachers are amazing. Awarded with Governor's Excellence Award 2 consecutive years now and continously produce productive kids. It always reaches to the community and in return gets community volunteers to support them. I love being a volunteer in this school and at the same time I'm sad because my kid who started kinder here is graduating this year as a 6th grader.

Posted: April 21, 2010

Westgate has great teachers and staff who really care about the kids. My son has transitioned very well to this school after his Montessori experience. We just wish they had more resources so they could really soar. Thank you Westgate!