Bannockburn Elementary School

6520 Dalroy Lane

Bethesda, MD 20817

School District

Montgomery County Public Schools
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

public

School Map for Montgomery County Public Schools

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on May 21, 2024

Ms. McCawley is such an amazing 3rd grade teacher. She's truly changed my son's attitude towards school singlehandedly. TheClassroom atmosphere is so positive and all the children enjoy being in her classroom. The lessons are well-structured and organized. Her passion for teaching is evident, she has a strong ability to identify struggling students and bring them up to par without slowing the other students down. She's an excellent and consistent communicator with parents. Her instructional pacing is appropriate andShe seems to always find ways to add more opportunities for enrichment tasks to challenge high-achieving students. She's a perfect fit for this school and I'm so lucky that my child was fortunate to have her as a teacher.
Submitted by parent on March 07, 2023

On the upside, this school is in a great neighborhood with many actively involved parents and some truly wonderful teachers. The school test scores are very good especially because parents encourage their children and the school administration prioritizes test scores. On the downside, this schools administration has unnecessarily strict control issues, sometimes actually to the detriment of the student's mental health and ability to feel safe and learn. There is a command and control approach to education at this school, which seems to be more pronounced than at other public schools in the area. This plays out in terms of trying to place severe limits on free play and exercise, making noise, and such things. This creates an unnecessarily stressful environment for students, and it can be unnecessarily hard for children who need some active free exercise to focus the rest of the day. We have observed this tendency by the administration to be been a consistent approach since before the covid pandemic.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2022

Overrated. Poor leadership, school is nothing special. Go to Northern Virginia or an few blocks away to Carderock Springs. The bias in test scores is likely from parent demographics and investment in out of school activities. Many of the kids that live in the immediate area are going to private schools as a result. The changeover won’t be evident in the numbers for about 10 more years.
Submitted by parent on February 08, 2021

Bannockburn as a school is lovely, however, Montgomery County Public Schools needs an overhaul from top to bottom, including the Board of Education. For a county that is a large and well funded as MoCo/MCPS, they have done a TERRIBLE job managing our kids education throughout this entire pandemic. Last March when the world came to a screeching halt, it was understandable (although disappointing) that contingency learning plans were not in place. MCPS had an entire summer and has now had almost an entire year to figure out how to get our kids back in school safely, and yet, they continue with sub par distant learning. Private institutions are allowed to hold distant learning hubs inside school buildings while the vast number of pupils are left to sit through endless, boring hours of online instruction. The plan to bring kids back into school buildings includes having zoom school inside the school buildings. Kids will sit with proctors (not teachers) inside classrooms on their headsets while listening to lessons via remote teachers. Why are we paying for proctors to monitor our kids instead of investing that money into ensuring we have what we need (sans an entire community being vaccinated which isn't happening anytime soon) to safely open our schools? Bottom line, MCPS, BOE don't have our kids best interest in mind. Our kids are pawns in a game between MSPC, BOE and the teachers union. No one wants to stand up and do what's right for our kids who are suffering; the extent of which we will not fully understand for years to come. Bottom line, not worth buying in. Buy somewhere that's cheaper and actually cares about your kids education.
Submitted by parent on August 10, 2018

This is a lovely little school, with a very committed staff and school community. It gets great ratings and its students have high test scores. My only concern here is that there is a very, very small proportion of low-income students here, and a fairly low diversity of students from different racial backgrounds, particularly when looking at the district as a whole. That puts our kids in a bit of a bubble that doesn't stand them in good stead when they go on to secondary school or adulthood in a highly diverse society. I think having a more balanced school community would earn this school its perfect 10 in 10.
Submitted by other on January 20, 2016

Such a wonderful neighborhood school! Not that one would normally compare a school to a bar - I have to say its like the Cheers bar - a place where everyone knows your name! I've have 2 kids graduate from Bannockburn and they were both really well-prepared for Pyle Middle school. My child that is still there is enjoying the nurturing environment. The parent community is wonderful - so willing to volunteer. There are many great events - Bingo Night, Fun Run, International Night, and on and on. We moved to the neighborhood because of the reputation of Pyle and Whitman but soon realized the gem we had for our elementary school. Yes, it could use a face lift - it isn't nearly as fancy as some of the other schools. But if you look beyond the cinder brick walls - you quickly see that it is a great neighborhood school. Wonderful teachers and a very dedicated principal. Love it!
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2015

Such a wonderful small neighborhood school! We have had kids enrolled there for 7 years now and it has been great for all of them. There is a new principal who is very energetic and is working hard to make Bannockburn the best school it can be. The PTA is very strong and is super active - there are so many volunteer activities. As a parent you can do as few or as many as you would like. They have a fabulous Math Day that has caught the attention of MCPS and other school are now trying to model it. There is also a fabulous after school clubs program and daycare program. All in all, it is a tight knit, but welcoming, community that is full of great kids and really interesting and well educated parents that want the best for their kids and they realize that they have it right in their neighborhood. It also feeds to Pyle and Whitman - top schools in the state. We love it!
Submitted by parent on November 14, 2013

We've had some good teachers and one exceptional teacher so far. Most parents are highly educated and very much involved.
Submitted by parent on October 24, 2013

Bannockburn is a small elementary school, which results in a very strong sense of community. My children are very happy here and adore their teachers. Principal Walder is responsive and understanding, and has done a great job hiring energetic and effective teachers. Many of the families in the Bannockburn school district have the resources to send their children to the private school of their choice, but very few families opt for private school over Bannockburn, which I think says a lot.
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2013

My child couldn't wait to leave Bannockburn. She's very happy at Pyle now. She didn't enjoy that the electives (like chorus) were required and that the turnover in chorus, music and art teachers that brought in people who weren't very good at working with children or thought that art meant just using pencils and paper. She did like her (main) teacher very much, but that teacher left for a position in a middle school.
Submitted by parent on February 19, 2013

The Bannockburn School community is highly educated and academically focused. The small school setting gives it an advantage that most schools do not have. It is a wonderful,safe and nurturing environment.
Submitted by parent on April 19, 2012

My son attended Bannockburn Elementary and is now at Pyle in middle school. This gave me perspective on how amazing this school was. Aside from principal changes and some inexperienced teachers (who imho compensated with tremendous compassion and a sincere desire to serve the kids) this is IMHO the BEST elementary school around since it's also the smallest. The community is unbelievable and I only now realize how incredibly LUCKY we were to have had the real privilege to be a part of it. I (and most importantly my kids and their friends) will cherish the memories!!!
Submitted by parent on December 24, 2010

They were really an amazing schol and still are. I realy miss BAnnockburn. My daughter now in 6th grade says this was a amazing oppurtunity and has taught her many things for the feauture.
Submitted by parent on May 03, 2009

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