Sparks Elementary School

601 Belfast Rd

School District

Baltimore County Public Schools
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

public

School Map for Baltimore 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 April 17, 2023

One of the best educators and staff members I have seen.
Submitted by parent on February 13, 2023

Sparks Elementary is and has always been a great school.
Submitted by parent on August 30, 2021

We have one son who has graduated from Sparks in 2020 (after transferring in during 2nd grade from the city school system) and who has moved into HMS (now in 7th grade). He was a traditional learner, split between 2 households with diverse parents and we were very pleased with Sparks. Aside from some of the usual groaning about school, he was happy there as well. I found teachers to be responsive and professional. Every personality is different and of course he clicked better with some than others, but that's human.No parent will be pleased 100% with their kid's school because no one system can be run perfectly for every child. But overall? He was interested in what he was learning (we were as well! and found the school to be welcoming, professional, and invested in the students. We were very happy with the school.We have a second son now who also attends SPARKS. He is in a FALS program, which is a separate program for kids who are not likely (at this point, anyway) to complete a diploma track program, but instead will go through high school with a certificate of completion. It's designed as well to let those kids who need different goals be in a separate room for learning but still attend the "specials" with the rest of their age-peers (art, music, P.E. and library). I should mention that our 2nd son is an international adoptee who spent every day of his 11 years in institutions that provided neglect to a level of abuse, and so he is coming to Sparks with zero education, years behind locked doors in empty rooms, malnourished, with undiagnosed heart issues. And I'm skimming the surface because he deserves as much privacy as I can give him. I shared this much to say that every single staff person/teacher at Sparks has met him with a smile, a welcome, and a willingness to try and figure out how to get the best picture of his needs and abilities to ultimately decide his placement. Ms. Sowinski in the FALS program is where he ultimately did end, and we were thrilled. I'm hoping the kids in school will be kind to him, but I know that he is in the absolute best place with the best people we could have asked for. As a parent, I've been very happy with Sparks for both my mainstream curriculum son and also for my middle son in the FALS program. We have one more boy coming along to Sparks in a couple of years, hopefully!
Submitted by parent on July 20, 2018

Some of the best teachers around (granted some of the substitute teachers seem overly strict, so there are exceptions) throughout all 6 grades (K-5).
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2017

As a mixed race family we are very happy at this school. We are having a better experience here than we had at a super expensive private school in the area. The teachers and leadership is effective and professional . The parent community is friendly and inclusive and we feel safe and welcome in this community. We are so grateful for this wonderful school.
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2015

My kids loved Sparks elementary school. Teachers truly care about the students and put in alot of unpaid time for before and afterschool activities/clubs. PTA is well organized and goes above and beyond. Everyone including admin, janitors and bus drivers take care to ensure safe and happy kids.
Submitted by parent on September 01, 2014

We moved to Sparks in large part because of all the good things we heard about the elementary school. It's a beautiful campus, and the county buses are really convenient. My child started 2nd grade, coming from a charter school in the city, with test scores in the high 90th percentiles and loving school. This is a child who gets angry on snow days because she enjoys school so much. By the time December came around she was systematically unlearning all the things she had learned, and worst of all she was starting to really dislike school. The Common Core curriculum is terrible and I found the teachers and administrators to be poorly responsive. I had to put my child in Sylvan to make up for the educational deficiencies at Sparks, and this year I've moved her to private school. She finished 2nd grade with worse test scores and with a poorer outlook on school than what she started. I can only hope that with the extra effort we put in at Sylvan and at home she won't have lost out too much in the long run. Parents, be warned.
Submitted by parent on January 27, 2014

Sparks Elementary School is a great school it has wonderful teachers and a great principal they are always happy and the school is filled with happy students and delight