Veterans Elementary School

4355 Montgomery Road

School District

Howard County Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Howard 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 other on September 06, 2024

it is a great school, and I highly recommend it.
Submitted by parent on December 29, 2023

We LOVE VES! If you are considering a home that feeds this school do it! From the new administration to the wonderful guidance counselor the staff is so warm and caring. My child has friends who speak Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Hindi. I love the cultural diversity she gets to experience daily! I am constantly amazed as how much my child is learning. I’ve gotten the chance to observe my child’s classroom as well as eat lunch with her and it’s apparent what a well run, safe, warm community VES is. The PTA is super active and they are always having fun assemblies as well as family events in the evening. I can not recommend this school enough. We feel so lucky our kids get to experience this community.
Submitted by parent on December 04, 2023

Veterans Elementary is a great school for kids! I highly recommend this school for parents looking for a Howard County elementary school.
Submitted by other on November 01, 2023

I went to this school for 6 years and it was an amazing experience, I learned a lot more than I did in other schools and the staff had their priorities in check. Overall it is a great school and I highly recomend
Submitted by parent on March 26, 2023

As a student at the school for 2 years I really didn't like the staff.
Submitted by parent on September 14, 2022

This is an excellent school. I have had 2 kids go through this school. The teachers are amazing. They have fieldtrips, assemblies, lots of PTA events, and an amazing principal. My kids love it here and I love volunteering here. Really everything you could hope for in your elementary school community.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2022

I think the school is pretty good.
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2022

My child attended RECC (PreK) 2021-22 as a peer in the Learning Together program. I would not recommend. This school lacks community: When I approach the staff, they say "Mom" or our "Friend" is here. No one remembers my name or my child's name, or greets me. If I make eye contact with a Para (G-d forbid), no one greets me or says Good Morning.My other child attended a Christian Montessori preschool where there was a strong sense of community. Everyone said Good Morning to each other and was friendly. I made the unfortunate choice of choosing this public school RECC based on the fact that it's run by certified teachers. If you want to drop off your kids, not be involved in a community, and have the most basic possible kind of preschool experience for you kids, this is it. The majority of the other parents in my child's class barely spoke English and avoided eye contact at drop off and pick up, despite our children being friends. No playdates, no Class Parents, no birthday celebrations. So sad. They focus on academic building, not character building - which is so important in preschool.I don't feel that my child is cared for or advocated for here. Teachers and staff are "coasting" toward retirement - especially the principal - and just looking to cover themselves. My emails to the principal with suggestions were ignored. I had to ask the PTA president for assistance. It's no wonder several teachers quit in the middle of the school year. When my child acted out at school, the teachers asked me if there were issues at home instead of helping my child work through the issue. They looked to blame me (the family) for his behavior. This is the opposite of what IEP or MINC kids need - but then my developmentally normal son is not assigned to a special teacher. I highly suggest going to a Co-op style preschool with required parent involvement. Avoid Veterans at all costs, especially if you have to pay tuition for what is a shoddy public school program. For about the same price, the preschool experience is far better at a community based organization.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2020

Veterans is an awesome school for kids! Don't even talk about the principal he is so amazing! AKA. Robert Bruce! I feel my kids are happy about having a nice, humorous, and awesome principal. The teachers are really nice and also really care about your child's learning tasks and things they need to work on more. All four of my girls have gone to VES until they had to get redistricted to Northfield. We love Mr.Bruce as a principal and hope all schools can deserve an awesome and caring principal like him.VES could work on the front office staff and how they handle the adults coming in and picking up, dropping off their child or etc. VES has a lot of fun activities around the year such as field day and other field trips for each grade. Breakfast is served in the mornings too. The school mascot is a friendly eagle that we can call spirit. As of the rules of the school, the keyword is SOAR that all kids like to sing the song about. I LOVE THIS SCHOOL! I can trust this school of keeping my child safe at all times even if there is a bus delay or etc.I highly recommend this school as for parents looking for a howard county elementary school.
Submitted by parent on March 20, 2020

Amazing, the front desk staff where ok but everyone else was amazing tome and my kid.
Submitted by other on April 26, 2017

This school has great teaching staff, however honestly the front office staff needs to improve being a little patient with the parents whether they call by phone (or) by coming in person. I would request and recommend that the principal please take some measures in changing his front office staff (I do not want to name any) They are very rude and do not know to interact calmly with parents. With a recent forgotten lunch bag episode, I really felt embarrassed and humiliated in front of the front office staffs with their questions and looks like I am a criminal or something. I agree that the students strength of this school is high, however that is no reason to yell (or) be rude to the parents. Increase your front office staff numbers (or) hire efficient and good staffs.
Submitted by parent on January 10, 2017

I have two children attending this school, and we have been a part of the VES community since 2010. We had some wonderful teachers in the K to 2nd grade years, but now that my children are getting older, I find inconsistencies in communication. I realize that children need to take more responsibility as they get older; however, I feel that once my kids hit 3rd grade, much of the communication just stopped. The school has a large population, and although I realize they have to manage it somehow, they seem to have a 'one size fits all' approach to behavior management that doesn't strike me as extremely positive.
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2014

Overall, Veterans is a good school but it can be better. We have been at this school since it's inception and over the years, there have been positives and negatives. The most positive aspect of this school continues to be the exceptionally talented, intelligent, and caring principal. If it were not for this principal, we would have moved away from this area and chosen to go to a better elementary school. There are also a handful of teachers who stand out in having lasting positive effects in terms of building up the self-esteem and academic efforts of children. Unfortunately, there are some teachers who are not as invested in caring about the individual child's social and academic progress and instead, have reputations as being overly strict, unapproachable, biased and humorless. With the onset of common core, there seems to have developed, more negative attitudes and incompetencies among some teachers. The most negative aspect of this school, however, is the overcrowding. Our children had to endure several years of having limited access to the playground (e.g., can only walk on the blacktop), overly stringent lunchtime procedures and minimal oversight of bullying behaviors.
Submitted by parent on August 18, 2014

This school is a gem. It's filled with caring, dedicated teachers, a principal (Robert Bruce) who seems to be highly respected by his staff and by parents, and a diverse, well-rounded, engaged student body. The teachers and administration contribute to a fun atmosphere for the students. My children know that VES is a place to work hard and play hard. They have moved onto middle school without trouble. VES gave them a great foundation.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2014

Amazingly awesome. Dedicated teachers. Smart students. Engaged administration. I can't say enough good things about this school. There are reasons that houses in this district cost so much!
Submitted by other on February 15, 2014

I am a third grader here and I think this school is great. The teachers and staff are remarkably kind and each and every individual who works here seems willing to help any of us in any way possible. I actually enjoy coming to school because of the wonderful and positive atmosphere created by everyone. Thank you Veterans Elementary school for being here for me, and I think I speak on behalf of everyone.
Submitted by parent on April 13, 2013

This school is by far the worst educational facility I have aver witnessed. From screaming children going ballistic to horrible average test scores, this school is a wretched mess!
Submitted by parent on January 05, 2013

Such a wonderful learning community at Veterans Elementary School! My children have thrived with the support of quality staff members and a strong administrative team. We are very pleased with this school!