Herndon Elementary School

630 Dranesville Road

Herndon, VA 20170

School District

Fairfax County Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:11
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 other on October 12, 2022

Our three children attended Herndon Elementary more than 30 years ago, and my husband and I, now grandparents, volunteer at the school once a week. The demographics may have changed, but this school is still a wonderful place for students to learn and grow. The teachers are dedicated, the administration encourages everyone to do their best, and there are wonderful resource teachers for any child who needs a little extra help. Statistics do not always tell the whole story. These amazing and talented students are on the way to bright futures!
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2020

So far our experience has been very positive and we've been very pleased with the language immersion program. With the changing of Principal a few years back, the entire school has improved greatly!
Submitted by parent on June 16, 2019

We have had an excellent experience at Herndon ES!
Submitted by parent on May 12, 2019

Our family has been a part of the HES community for the last 3 years and have been impressed with the administration, staff and overall student population. HES has provided my child with a divers learning environment with opportunities for multiple modes of learning and demonstrating knowledge. Our child has a positive view of the school and expresses how happy they are at school. We feel that they have been challenged and have made great academic and social growth. We are excited to be a part of this school community and grateful for the education our child has received!
Submitted by parent on March 14, 2018

I have 2 kids in the school and have had a wonderful experience
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2017

My kids had great experience at this school. One had an IEP. Very caring staff and great sense of community
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2017

I am very proud of my daughter who is in the Spanish immersion program learning math and science. She spends two hours of every day in an intensive language environment and now both understands and speaks Spanish. It's a wonderful thing to know a second language. This school really supports an international environment and we are very proud to belong to Herndon Elementary.
Submitted by parent on October 25, 2016

Save yourself the pain we experienced. Don't move to this school district! There is no real diversity and the staff is so pre-occupied with feeding the struggling population that other children are ignored. Honestly, they are doing the right thing because it's basically a much needed soup kitchen. The result is that you must educate your own child. Our child's Kindergarten teacher (who was hired for her experience with struggling inner city kids) told us not to worry about our child's boredom in the 2nd month of school because he knew "enough to pass SOL's". She scolded him for raising his hand repeatedly and said he was "showing off" by writing sentences when most children were struggling to write single words or letters. He often came home crying and angry. They ignored our concerns about bullying for months until the bully (also a bright, bored child crying out for help) confessed in tears! We suggested one of our children needed to be challenged in math & science. They tested him and concluded "We aren't seeing the skills". They were teaching single digit addition in class but tested his multiplication skills and he got 1 out of 2 wrong! Really?? That's not an aptitude test. Professional testing later revealed he's "Exceptionally gifted". We switched to a private school in desperation and he progressed from 1st through 5th grade math & science in 6 months. Our other children made similar leaps in other subjects. How is it possible for this school's evaluations and curriculum to be so far off? I think H.E. is so overwhelmed with helping underperforming, hungry children that they don't have resources to handle the needs of other children. So, they advance a few children whose parents teach them at home and ignore the rest. This is bad news for children who speak another language at home. If our children were ALL ignored, those with language barriers have even less of a chance! The STEM lab is great but our children only visited once a month. The principle discourages afternoon clubs because "Most parents can't arrange transportation after school and it wouldn't be fair". When I asked why they weren't using technology or updating the website I was told "Our population doesn't have internet access". They've given up. Don't let your child be a victim! Positive reviews here might be an attempt to prevent declining property values. Check the ffx county scores!
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2016

Herndon elementary is a wonderful school. My child is in the 3rd grade and doing fine. Her teachers are caring and the staff in general is very committed to ensuring that all children are being challenged and educated. Test scores are not a good measure of a school. When my child was struggling with reading we (Parents) took the time to read with her and help her bridge the gap. Schools alone are not always the only way to help our children learn.
Submitted by parent on September 20, 2016

Herndon Elementary is our neighborhood school and we were lucky enough to have a neighborhood school that offered language immersion, French at the time. Both of my children have participated in the program and have loved it. Currently French is being phased out and two-way Spanish immersion is in place. The school offers a lot of cultural diversity and has a large number of genuinely caring and competent staff. Community/parent involvement is key to the return of this school's success. Keep in mind: There is more to a school than standardized test scores.
Submitted by other on July 29, 2016

Member of family had kids who were failing in their grades due to the focus on getting ESL students capable of passing the SOL. No attention was given to other kids. They moved to Loudon county, and now they are on the honor roll or doing very well. Sad thing is, this also resulted in fairfax county emergency worker parents out of fairfax county. This is all because of Herndon elementary. Don't send your kids here. They are getting worse as time goes on.
Submitted by other on May 20, 2016

It use to be an above average school. I do not know what is wrong. Maybe the principal is to comfortable in her job. I just do not see how it could drop to be such a poor school. Even worse than that is I do not see them doing anything to change it. There needs to be a major shake up at that school. If we do not see changes soon we will be pulling our students out of there. I know several parents that are thinking of doing the same. This is unacceptable.
Submitted by other on September 15, 2015

School has what it takes. You just need to be diligent they don't get lost. The teachers are all dedicated and working hard. The hard work needs to also come from us parents.
Submitted by parent on September 14, 2015

Taking our children out of this failing school was one of the best decisions that we have ever made...our children were failing at Herndon Elementary and I was told on more than one occasion by administrators and teachers that "they are doing better then most of the children here" so therefore they would not help them...my children never passed an SOL while at Herndon Elementary...there is absolutely no communication between the school and parents, no homework, no tests, no projects...avoid this school, it is one of the worst schools in the state of VA (statistics prove that) and the administrators and the teachers are the ones to blame.
Submitted by parent on June 30, 2015

No deep learning, no good friends. My child had a very sad frustrating experience in this school, despite the fact that he loves studying, it was truly a sad experience. I can count with my hand the days when he responded he had had a good day at school. He was even keeping a journal of all what had happened that day. So, so sad to see no one cares. :(
Submitted by parent on June 11, 2015

I love this school. I have been on the PTA board for the last 2 years, my daughters are in French immersion, my son just started Spanish immersion. What an opportunity for them to learn! The teachers are all dedicated, caring and working overtime to get our test scores up....although test scores do not make a school, especially if it is Title 1 (50% or above of students are on free lunch) and have about 40% Spanish as a first language students. HES has a lot of challenges, but my kids love it, I love it - and everyone is working as hard as they can to make the school great. I would not move my kids anywhere else.....
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2015

I'm saddened to see poor reviews of this school. My daughter loves school so much that she wishes she could live there. The school description is out of date as there are now even more kids and a different principal. I volunteer there often both for PTA events and in the classroom. The faculty and staff are loving and know my daughters name. It's a warm atmosphere. My daughter is in the French immersion and my son will begin in Spanish immersion. What an opportunity! The teachers have been excellent! Although our experience has been amazing, I know that some other classes have had "permanent subs" and I'm grateful my kid hasn't. Overall, our experience at Herndon Elementary has been exceptional.
Submitted by parent on November 05, 2014

This is such a sad school. Everything about it is sad and depressing. The teachers have pretty much given up and the kids are basically in day care. No real learning or education is happening at HES anymore and it shows. The test scores continue to drop ( it's one of the WORST schools in the whole state) and the teachers are either unable to effect change or are cowed by administration. Each year it's like watching rats flee a ship as parents pull their kids or move to get out of HES. Even the PTA has given up and aren't doing fund raisers or events anymore. The Spanish immersion has been a disaster. Native speaking parents have pulled their kids out and English speaking parents have dropped out after realizing the curriculum is 2 grades behind. They really messed up this school. Too bad. It's a great town with great people. It used to be a GREAT school but the current administration can't overcome the problems.
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2014

First, let me say that I've been told that this school is one of Fairfax County's failing schools in math and science. While I've heard numerous "excuses" (mostly blaming the large number of non-native English speaking students at the school) in my opinion the school is making these kids scapegoats. Our child's regular teacher during the 2013/2014 year was outstanding, but the "new" French teacher was abysmal. The principal and school district hired a 22-year old with NO TEACHING DEGREE OR TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND A DEGREE IN DRAMA to teach math and science in French to children. Apparently, the ONLY skills that qualified this teacher to teach was that she herself had gone through the French program at Herndon Elementary and she had taken a few French classes in college. Let me repeat, the principal and school district hired a 22-year old with no math degree, no science degree, no French degree, no teaching degree, and no experience with children whatsoever, as a full-time teacher to teach math and science in French to the kids. I've rapidly lost respect for this school and am seriously thinking about pulling my child from it.
Submitted by parent on May 05, 2014

Herndon Elementary School is a great. Teachers work with students to ensure they are learning and involve parents to ensure kids are not falling behind in their studies.