The Greenmount School

501 West 30th Street

Baltimore, MD 21211

32 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on October 25, 2024

We moved to Baltimore two years ago and have had such a great experience in Greenmount. It was a huge transition for both of my kids to move from another state and the school continues to be extremely supportive. I absolutely love the parent involvement and flexibility. We quickly built a community and really enjoy the families and everyone we have met. The kids quickly made friends and have received excellent education and support both for their strengths and areas of growth. We were planning to always have our kids in public school, but have quickly come to recognize the benefits of smaller class rooms.
Submitted by parent on October 21, 2020

Excellent. We are so happy to have found GMS for our daughter. She loves the school and her confidence has grown so much since the start of the year. We are grateful to be in a school community that lives its values.
Submitted by parent on September 30, 2020

Last year was our first year at GreenMount. We currently have a 4th grader and a 1st grader attending. The change was exactly what my son needed! Once we switched to the smaller community at GeenMount, he was able flourish. We had always been impressed with GreenMount, even from the first time we attended an open house years before we actually enrolled. The students were articulate and able to interact with adults with ease. I later learned that GreenMount teaches these skills even in kindergarten, where their interactions in community meetings introduce these helpful people skills.At GreenMount, the administration knows your name. The teachers take time to give you written feedback each week on your child's progress, not just academically but socially as well. In addition, since it is a small school, the children all know one another. My then kindergartener was assigned an 8th grade "buddy" at the beginning of the year and as he transitioned to his new school, he reported that his buddy was his favorite part of his new school.Even when we switched to distance learning in March, I was pleased at how much my children continued to learn. The kindergarten teacher had a story hour that she continued through the end of June with the kids.The third grade teacher continued her daily story hour the end of July, months after school had ended. The dedication of the teachers during this transition was outstanding! This school year, the 4th grade teacher has great control of the virtual classroom and the kids are learning and progressing despite remote learning. The 1st grade teacher is new, having been hired on the first day of school, and is clearly a capable teacher, but has had some challenges with the technology. Despite this, she remains in close contact with parents keeping them updated and even makes calls to families to ensure that their child has all the materials ready for upcoming classes.In short, GreenMount has been the perfect fit for our family. Our boys are thriving, excited to wake up and get online to log into school. I feel confident that the time they are at GreenMount will have them ready academically and socially for becoming kind, caring, thoughtful young people.
Submitted by parent on November 18, 2019

Excellent. We've been part of the GreenMount community for over a decade.
Submitted by parent on November 08, 2019

One of the things that makes GreenMount so special is the community, and the family camping trip is a perfect example. We all pitch in with the planning, cooking and activities, and my family can't wait to go every year. It is a wonderful time to connect with other parents, and our children get to explore the park with each other all weekend! My son also recently went on his third camping trip with his grade and thinks it is one of the highlights of the year. In addition to the academics on the trip, the children take on more responsibility each year including preparing all the meals and cleaning up afterwards. To me, this is the way cooperative and experiential learning is supposed to be!
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2019

We are immensely thankful for Mr. Fletcher’s leadership and curricular devotion to Service Learning. My children have experienced the depth of the offerings of the Service Learning program from 1st grade through grade 8 and have been changed by their experiences. Partnerships with Paul’s Place through monthly visits, 8th graders are provided repeated opportunities to build on experiences allowing them to see the impact of their service. The anticipation for and the open arms GMS students are welcomed with reveals how they are valued in the community. The Youth Service Opportunity Project (YSOP) in Washington DC stands out as the most transformative and enduring service learning project. An intensive multi-day experience brings the 7th graders into immersive settings, places them side by side those they are supporting/serving and asks hard questions of the adolescents. Service Learning is not only my favorite keystone program at GMS but it is the most favored and unforgettable of my children as well.
Submitted by other on April 08, 2019

Overall Greenmount was an 11/10. The lessons I was taught allowed me to enter high school more then prepared. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t miss the memories I made at Greenmount.
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2018

GreenMount has been a great fit for our family and we feel lucky to have found this little gem of a school. Our child has thrived there, academically and socially, and we love the strong focus on community fostered by the co-op model.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2018

We are wrapping up our first year at Greenmount. This school has been exactly what my Kindergartner needed in a primary school. The small class sizes, the individual attention each staff member pays to every student, and the focus on the whole child is unmatched. The community is very supportive, the teachers are well trained, and the kids are smart in general education and the real world application of everything they learn.
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2018

I have three children who all attend GreenMount. I (we) could not be more thrilled to be a part of this dynamic learning environment and nurturing community. It took us a while to find just the right fit for our kids, but it was worth the wait. The theme curriculum is not only interesting and immersive, but it provides each child with just the right tools to explore at their own level. I believe this is the best way to foster curiosity and a lifelong love of learning. We have certainly seen our children grow and blossom at GMS!
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2018

A good school with great involvement from parents that provides a unique learning environment. The characteristics that originally drew us to the GreenMount School were small class size, engaging teachers, lower tuition, hands on learning, thematic learning, and parent involvement in the school through the co-op. By participating in co-op, parents are informed about what is happening on a daily basis in their child's education. Walking in to the building each day to pick up and/or drop off, parents are kept abreast of what is happening at school in a way that is not possible when curbside drop off is required or encouraged. In a nod to parent convenience, the GreenMount School also offers curbside drop off for those parents needing it. Faculty, administration and staff at the GreenMount School know all students, parents and siblings by name. The GreenMount School’s strengths are in it's small class sizes (approximately 12 students per grade), lower tuition, and the sense of community that is generated through parent and teacher involvement in student lives. As with all schools, however, no school is perfect. Some of the GreenMount School’s strengths have recently been eroded with sudden rises in tuition, discontinuing of the sibling discount, increases in class size, and issues of communication between administration and parents. We look forward to our second child joining the GreenMount School community in the Fall of 2018 and hope that the GreenMount School continues to grow and embody the characteristics that we have always loved in the school.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2018

Ideal K-8! Collaborative, creative, enthusiastic community of teachers, students, staff, and parents.
Submitted by parent on April 20, 2018

If you are looking for a small school that provides a strong sense of community, then this is the school for you. Teachers truly get to know each and every child and family. The students leave GMS as caring, confident, contributing members of society. Parents are active participants. The kids are happy and love coming to school.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2017

This is a warm, welcoming, diverse community.The children are respectful and communicative without being motivated by penalties. They make eye-contact with adults, say "hello", "thank you", and "maybe I can help you". Many private schools motivate the student body using rules, penalties, traditions. Greenmount employs a short list of ethical ideas to motivate students to respect themselves & their community, build healthy relationships, and take responsibility for their effort and behavior. The results are impressive.The parent community is welcoming and supportive. Families develop relationships across the grades through the co-operative education model of participation. (Handy with tools? Fix a cabinet. Like aquariums? Help with the fish tank, etc. Musical instrument experience? Help with a club or lessons.) The staff are engaged and the head-of-school is present and involved with the kids, parents, staff, board and community. The office, facilities, and admissions process are well organized and run efficiently. The afterschool program is fantastic. Its reasonably priced, includes clubs, music lessons, foreign language, study hall, indoor & outdoor play and arts.My children are engaged with what they're learning at Greenmount. The classes are small, which means the teachers know each student. We previously attended a Baltimore public school and then an exclusive Baltimore private school, but our experience at Greenmount surpasses both.
Submitted by parent on May 28, 2016

The GreenMount school has been an absolutely wonderful experience for my child and the teaching staff has been utterly incredible. The Math and Language Arts Education in particular are tip top. The faculty is extremely kind and super nurturing.
Submitted by other on May 23, 2016

GMS has been a 5-star school for us. It has changed over time, which is not necessarily a bad thing. There is, though, a lack of transparency and back and forth communication that in the past was open and encouraged. Noticeably absent are weekly head of school communications, parent/teacher curriculum committee, year-end survey (which was way too long = low reply rate, then rethink it!). The many staff changes underway, including that of our admissions director, a longtime GMSer, with only a letter to communicate this has parents rightfully concerned. The comment the lower school is great while the upper school is not, does not hold true for our experience. It is rigorous and there is a learning curve making 6th grade a challenge, but my child is now able to delve into a subject, debate and critically think through both sides of an issue, write a comprehensive /informed paper, time manage a project, and even find something deemed "uninteresting" actually is interesting. Special programs round out student's experience: service learning, study skills, camping trips, apprenticeships, and an 8th grade trip (Costa Rica canceled without much communication, but thanks to 8th grade parents a trip to Utah turned out great, yay parents!) For a school that doesn't do high stakes testing our students test very well, get admitted to the high schools of their choice, and more importantly excel.Unique, a bit quirky, affordable, parent involved, this is what has drawn diverse families to GMS. While change happens and can be good, if the long held culture and mission of GMS becomes more about the school building, milking parents for money (which seems escalate each year) while voices are being stilled, the question is: will we become just another private school? That would absolutely break my heart.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2016

as a parent of a child at Greenmount I was directed to this site by another parent to see what is going on. I am appalled to see what is clearly open warfare between factions at the school. I was told it was parents against the leadership. This was a great school but it is clearly headed in the wrong direction and no one is in charge.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2016

Be sure to scroll down and view all of the entries. The ones from and around May 19 all sound suspiciously like the official GreenMount line. The school is experiencing a lot of strife right now.
Submitted by parent on May 19, 2016

From small class sizes to Theme Based Learning, The GreenMount School sets itself apart from other schools. My Kindergarten aged son has gained confidence over the past eight months as well as astounded me with his classroom learning. He is learning the fundamentals of math, science and language arts. But I also see him developing an inclusive world view and strong sense of community. I look forward to next seven years at GreenMount.
Submitted by other on May 18, 2016

Greenmount's co-operative education model has been fantastic for my family. Co-operative education requires parent involvement, although not necessarily in the classroom. It's not easy finding time to be involved, but involvement is where relationships are built. These relationships across the school-family interface are central to the quality of educational experiences for children (and parents).The relationships we develop during co-op allow us to care about the processes & decisions that support our school as a community; our teachers & administrators as professionals; the children as individuals; and one another as families.Long live co-operative education and the Greenmount School.