Coates Elementary

2480 River Birch Road

Herndon, VA 20171

School District

Fairfax County Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
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 April 05, 2024

My husband and I moved a lot all over the state with our daughter - and we happened to settle near Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary School. While I may be biased, our daughter is quiet but very observant. For the first few weeks, our daughter seemed fine. She loved her teachers and made many friends. However, after about 2-3 months, she started saying how certain teachers/managers treat other subordinates "meanly." While I didn't think much of it at first, my daughter's behavior started to change - and not in a good way. One time I brought her to the park and noticed how odd it was for her to bully other kids. When I asked her why she was being disrespectful, she said verbatim, "Because that's how some of my teachers treat their beneath people." I am not the kind of person to write reviews, but I am extremely disturbed, shocked, and disappointed. I want you to know that Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary School fails. The last place I imagined my own child to learn such disrespect was her school, especially, HER TEACHERS. Don't bring your kids here!
Submitted by parent on January 14, 2024

In my opinion most teachers get mad easily, but the rest are really nice.Not so good at problem solving with students, and easily believe lie's that students make up. That really affected my grand-daughter as her old friends lied to get themselves out of trouble. overall everything else is ok. (really miss the old principal though)
Submitted by parent on June 02, 2020

When we moved to this neighborhood this school was not rated well. But the last four years have seen a huge turnaround . Our neighbors with older kids told us that they see the positive change too, under the new principal. My kids are so happy at this school. They love going to school everyday. The school encourages parents to be involved and I have taken active interest in a few events at school. That helped me know the teachers better and strengthened my opinion that the school has an excellent team. I love the diversity at the school which helps my children build a strong foundation for a future world. Diversity is extremely important in today’s world. The school is also a level IV AAP center now which is another feather in their hat. The school supports all kinds of learners and that is a great achievement
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2020

I moved my son from Coates to Little Run in Faifax, and whereas teacher at Coates were only complaining and putting him in time-out, the new teachers at LR are only praising him all the time. The front desk at Coates was also horrible and it looked like an interrogation center while at LR everyone is friendly and welcoming. The only good thing at Coates was the smiling principal.
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2019

Good. Teachers at this school are good and taking care of each kid
Submitted by parent on November 14, 2018

I am a Coates parent for the last 4 years. My kids love this school and can't wait to get to school every morning. They are thriving in the engaging and challenging classroom environment the teachers provide.
Submitted by other on November 12, 2018

Awesome school! The students love their teachers, and the teachers have such big hearts for kids and they are always ready to work with families. Test scores are rising, and you can see how engaged kids are in their studies if you visit the school. They have advanced academics programming and some special classes that promote enrichment.
Submitted by parent on May 14, 2018

Worst school I have ever experienced in my entire life.
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2017

Great teachers and wonderful Principal. The test scores reflects only parents efforts not school.Teachers are putting lot of effort and hope parents do the same.
Submitted by other on January 31, 2017

Great school after McNair farm ele.Nice and educated teachers squad
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2016

This is a fantastic school disregarding all the ratings. My experience in last 1 year (my son did 6th grade) & now my daughter is doing Kindergarden. My experience has been consistently good, great teachers, respect to students & nice programs
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2016

My son had three teachers in this school and they were all amazing. Thanks to them he likes going to school and his academic score is very good. Office staff is very nice. School has many after school programs and some fun activities for kids (like movie night, dance night, etc). I'm also impressed with SACC teachers. They do a lot of fun stuff and projects. Very often, when I come to pick up my son, he's in the middle of doing some interesting project or playing with his friends and he doesn't want to leave yet (after being at school for almost ten hours!)
Submitted by other on May 16, 2016

Teachers in Coates school are great and go above and beyond in helping the students succeed.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2016

My daughter is coates student from past 2 years.This will be her 3rd year.from our experience I can say that coates elementary is a very good school with good staff. The teachers are very knowledgeable and shares a very good relationship with students. School has variety of after school programs. As this school is now GT center I am pretty sure that will be an additional star for this school.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2016

we are very happy and appreciate his teacher Ms.Waller commitment in helping him to achieve his academic success.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2016

Teachers, Principal and Front office staff are very caring and take individual attention and care on the children.My son's first grade teacher is very caring and provides individual attention. With the teacher's help we were able improve our Son's overall academic scores.
Submitted by parent on August 05, 2015

The teachers and the staff at Coates are really good. They are approachable, kind, warm and they really care about our kids. This school has a strong PTA that supports the after school programs and lot of other programs that are really important for the kids to learn and thrive at this school.
Submitted by parent on June 12, 2015

Teachers are some of the best around - committed with high expectations - admin is caring, and student population is wonderfully diverse. Excellent afterschool programs. The low rating on this site does not do justice to this diamond-in-the-rough school that will undoubtedly improve now that it is approved for full-time aap.
Submitted by parent on April 14, 2015

As a former parent of Coates Elementary School (and a former FCPS teacher), I can honestly say that the staff at Coates are some of the hardest working teachers I have ever come in contact with. There are a large amount of resources for every child, those who need the support and those who benefit from being at a school with additional programming opportunities. I heard that they will be having Advanced Academics and will get more resources as a Title 1 School for the 2015-2016 school year. What a gift to current and new students who will attend Coates next year!
Submitted by parent on January 29, 2015

One plus is that this school has a very wide range of ethnicity groups which is something I really like. Another would be that my son loved this third grade teacher and sometimes he and a few other students from the class will have "Lunch Bunch" with her (Ms. Toriano). According to him, many of her past students really enjoyed having her as a teacher and I would agree that she was a great teacher. The cons- very large racial issues with this school! I suppose that comes with the diversity among students but far worse here than two other schools my son has attended in Fairfax County. In addition, these kids feel much older than what they really are regarding crude language, "empowerment", and their interactions with adults. I have many issues with my son being bullied on the bus by older kids or kids who are are darker than him. He even had a kid ask him once if he was black and stated no and he's been bullied ever since. His teacher this year has a nasty attitude. At Back to School Night we couldn't imagine how she talked to kids after she kicked one parent and child out of her trailer. I'd say this is a 4/10 overall.