About Us

Vision

By educating and empowering the whole child, Dowell Elementary strives to develop life-long learners who become productive members of society.

Mission

Dowell Elementary seeks to cultivate a love of learning within all students. We will accomplish this by maintaining high academic standards in a learning environment that is inclusive, equitable, and that supports the academic and social emotional growth of our students. Staff will strive to implement effective teaching strategies in an engaged, targeted, student-driven learning environment through the use of technology, collaboration, and a deep knowledge of resources. We believe that effective communication builds stronger relationships with families. Our success in this mission will empower all students to be productive members of society.

History

Dowell Elementary School opened its doors in August of 1999. It was constructed in less than a year by R.R. Gregory, Inc. under a design by Smolen Emr & Associates Architects. This 67,400 square foot building sits on 19 acres just north of Solomons Island between MD Rt. 2/4 and the Chesapeake Bay. The lighted domes and skylights atop our building can be seen at night from the Governor Johnson Bridge, which crosses the Patuxent River connecting St. Mary’s and Calvert Counties.

Our school district extends from just south of John’s Creek, with the exception of a large portion of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates and H.G. Trueman Road between Cove Point and Rousby Hall Road, to the southern tip of Calvert County.

Our school services approximately 560 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 5th. Our school classrooms are as follows: two half-day Pre-K, three Kindergarten, three 1st grades, four 2nd grades, four 3rd grades, four 4th grades, and four 5th grades. We are also fortunate to have two regional special education classes housed at DES, which include two Structured Learning Environments (Primary and Intermediate). We are also a regional school for our English as a Second Language (ESL) students.