Bonnie Brae Elementary School

5420 Sideburn Road

Fairfax, VA 22032

School District

Fairfax County Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Fairfax 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 August 17, 2024

We’ve been at Bonnie Brae for the past couple years and are so happy with everything. The teachers are all wonderful and engaged, the administration is responsive and supportive of families and staff, and there is strong community engagement and so many great activities! They are also a purple star school so there is lots of support for incoming military families.
Submitted by parent on December 13, 2023

My son is in 3rd grade at Bonnie Brae and our experience with the school has been excellent. Everything is well organized. We receive great communication from the school. There are several events each year, and they bring the school community together. All of my son’s teachers have been excellent. When I’ve been in the school, it seems like every staff member knows my son and treats him with kindness. I cannot say enough good things about the SACC program there, which my son attends both before and after school.
Submitted by parent on October 25, 2021

My daughters go to this school, it has good teachers and good staff
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2018

I miss this school. My son went to Bonnie Brae until we moved to Centreville, where his current school is not as challenging/good as Bonnie Brae.
Submitted by parent on May 18, 2018

My son is wrapping up his Kindergarten year at this school. He has always been a good student so I was not worried about that aspect. I was more concerned about social behaviors now that he is in elementary school. His kindergarten class was awesome. The students would REGULARLY write notes and draw pictures for each other saying that they like each other, that they are friends. I think this school really fostered a very nurturing and loving start to lifetime learning.
Submitted by teacher on January 21, 2018

I have taught in three schools in my career and this is by far the best. There is strong collaboration between teachers. Teachers meet twice a week in structured meetings to address assessment data, discuss and plan for struggling students, and plan for how to meet the needs of advanced students. Teachers and administration have a strong focus on students and collaboration. There is a strong PTO, which works hard to support students and teachers. The school has areas where it can improve, but so does every school. I would send my kids here in a heartbeat!
Submitted by parent on November 07, 2017

A wonderful neighborhood school with engaged parents and teachers.
Submitted by parent on August 11, 2017

This an amazing school. The principal is a very caring and engaged leader. The fact that this school is rated a 6 is misleading. The proficiency ratings are in the mid-80's. The school district we came from in CA wasn't even close to that level and the school was a 10. That just proves how good the schools are in VA. Our children are doing extremely well and are so happy at this school!
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2017

This year BBES got a new principal, and she's fabulous. Although the school was going downhill for a few years, things are looking sharply up. The piles of busywork/homework have disappeared, recess has been reinstated, class sizes have been reduced, and PTO activity is up. Everyone is happier. We had been regretting our move here, but now we are really optimistic about the school's future.
Submitted by parent on October 07, 2016

It depends strongly on the particular teacher you child gets st this school. My daughter, who was in 6th grade last year, had an amazing teacher and case manager. My son's teacher was great but his case manager was uncommunicative and lacking in other areas. The staff is very friendly and helpful but the curriculum is not challenging for my son. He tends to be very bored. Also, the bullying that goes on is not addressed.
Submitted by parent on June 05, 2016

We moved here 6 years ago from another FCPS elementary school boundary and three of my children graduated from Bonnie Brae. They were well prepared for Robinson and in fact the last two who did most of their education through Bonnie Brae are in Honor classes at Robinson. I can't speak more highly of the school!
Submitted by other on February 27, 2016

I totally agree with the late reviews. This school is far from what I expect in the neighborhood where we pay $5000 and well above taxes. We were waiting for two months to get a permanent teacher. So the kids fell behind the schedule. We are pressed every year to sign up to SIS system, which has no information what so ever (as a post to other schools where you can see the grades/test scores etc.). There is only one PT conference at the beginning of the school year. When I requested one, never heard back. I was never notified that my daughter was moved out from ESL program because she was tested and supposedly jumped 3 levels so no need for further enrichment. From the above, you can see there is lack of communication from school. The only time you find out how is your child doing is when they bring the reports every quarter. How can you help your child learning if you don't even know they need help?! I actually first rated bad but now after reviewing my summary here I'm changing to terrible.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2015

Any excuse to take a day off for this school!! Now that they have extended the Mondays, they take any day off.. Management implements extra days off.. Not good.
Submitted by parent on October 29, 2014

It was bad, now it's going towards worse... Every year someone introduces something new in the curriculum. This year is called "Holey Cards" a speed test that ONLY teaches anxiety. We will see where this one is headed to.. This education system is creating guinea pigs out of our children.. NOT happy with this school.
Submitted by parent on September 11, 2014

Not great, not bad. My daughter attended kindergarten here and her teacher (Mander) quit part of the way through the year, due to behavior problems during class. The replacement was a nightmare teacher who was harsh to the kids, did not communicate to the parents, and began teaching knee-jerk memorization in an attempt to raise - kindergartners - test scores? My kindergartner was very talented and had trouble finding a place in a school where there is little art, not enough music & movement-based curriculum, as did many of the other kids. Greatschools calls this a good school simply because the socioeconomic class of these parents means kids are in LOTS of supplementary arts, language & sports activities not provided by elementary school.
Submitted by parent on October 25, 2013

Our family moved to Burke after our daughter completed kinder in another state. We were amazed at how well BBES was run compared to her last elementary school. First and second grade were amazing years for our daughter, so much so we had a hard time deciding what to do for 3rd grade and AAP. We did end up switching schools for AAP, but honestly regret it. Our youngest is still at BBES and we know she will stay there till the end (we wont make the same mistake twice). The teachers and staff go out of their way to help and have always been available to talk and more importantly listen! Love BBES
Submitted by parent on October 24, 2013

Bonnie Brae has been great for our son, who started K there last year and is now in 1st Grade. Not only is the staff excellent, our son benefits from the teacher having two assistants, ensuring each child gets attention and assistance. Kudos to Ms. G and Mrs Rapanti!
Submitted by parent on September 25, 2013

I was hesitant to send my daughter to our neighborhood public school, but now I cannot be more content about it. The school building, inside and out, is great and the facilities are nice. The principal, teachers, assistant teachers, staff at the office, they all put students first, they are able to achieve an excellent educational level. I love the fact that they emphasize Respect, Kindness, and Positive Discipline and model that too. Any inquiries or concerns that the parents have are taking care of right away. It does not matter if you talk with them over the phone or in person, they are always polite and effective. I am impressed at their organizational level too, since they have a great communication system that is daily, weekly, by-weekly and monthly. They also embrace each family from the start and create a good school community environment. The most important thing is that my daughter is happy there and loves her school, her class teachers and the ones from Music, Art, PE, Library, her classmates, play friends, bus buddies, the principal and the ladies at the cafeteria (by the way, they offer the kids healthy food and show them the best lifestyle choices to stay healthy.)
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2013

Great school! Great teachers! Fantastic principal!! My children are very happy at Bonnie Brae! I am thrilled with the education they are receiving!
Submitted by parent on July 23, 2012

tthis is a great school. my son loves going to BBES. the principal and tteachers are very nice caring. we love to stay here.