Silver Spring Driving Academy

Fantastic experience: I learned a lot from taking the driving course at Silver Spring Driving Academy. The class are very helpful, and the weekend lessons fit perfectly with my schedule. The lessons are easy to understand, and the instructor is patient and supportive to all throughout the 36-hour course. I highly recommend it!

Fantastic experience: We used them for our daughter including extra driving hours. They were caring, patient and insightful. I would highly recommend them

Fantastic experience: Silver Spring Driving Academy is the best driving school in Maryland. Staffs are very helpfull. Instructurs of this school are very organized, on time, well experience and preaper students very well for road tests. My instructure Mr. Bell Melvin H went far and beyond, has taught me some skills those were not part of my driving lessons packages. For example, he taught me driving on highways with 55 miles/hour, doing parallel parking,forward parking, doing some basic maintainace for a car (e.g.changing oils, changing wheels). In addition, right after passing my road test, the owner of the school gave me some ideas in details those I shuold consider about buying a new car or an used car as well as about buying a car insurance. He also told me that he will help me if I need help buying any car. I strongly recommend you taking you driving lesson in Silver Spring Drivng Academy. Instructur Bell Melvin H in the best. He works from Wednesday to Friday.

Fantastic experience: My experience was extremely the best friendly staff extremely good driving instructor extremely with immigrants like my self. Thank you to the Silver Spring Driving Academy family for the help they gave me.

Negative experience: If I can rate this school with *0* I would. I registered my family member because they give spanish classes; however, the experience was terrible. The first 3 classes were given in a classroom with no AC (only spanish classes must be given in person and it is not provided online). When I tried to book the appointment for the 6 hours *DRIVING INSTRUCTION TRAINING*, I was told that my family member MUST COMPLETE THE 60 HOURS DRIVING REQUIRED BY THE MVA. So my question is if this is a DRIVING ACADEMY AND THE 6 HOURS SAYS *INSTRUCTION TRAINING*, what is the academy for? I called different academies and I asked what is the 6 hr behind the wheel driving instructions means beside the 30 hr classroom instructions, and most of them said that they can TEACH HOW TO DRIVE FROM SCRATCH. I definitely would not recommend this academy no one.

Negative experience: I was unable to take the classes. I asked for a refund. They never provided the refund.

Fantastic experience: Very good school the teachers and staff are very helpful. Before i didn’t know how to drive at all and was scared after i did classes and in car sessions i came out as a confident driver and passed my test!

Positive experience: It’s a good driving school and most of the instructors are very nice and helpful. There is one instructor named Dawn who is very intense and wasn’t very helpful, however my first and last instructor were very nice and I got my license thanks to them.

Fantastic experience: Good experience here

Fantastic experience: It was a wonderful experience that made everything simple to understand on top of being very patient with me Highly recommended to anybody.

Fantastic experience: Good teacher's, teach with passion

Fantastic experience: The folks at the SSDA provide outstanding services for any one aiming to get their license and qualifications for safe driving instruction! I’m fortunate to have chosen them for assistance on my driving classes and in-person driving sessions. Whatever questions I’ve ever had they made sure to accommodate my needs and were always considerate. I fully recommend this establishment!

Fantastic experience: Great school learned alot and great people

Fantastic experience: Five-star driving school! From the comprehensive lessons to the patient instructors, every aspect of my experience was top-notch. The instructors were knowledgeable, friendly, and made learning to drive enjoyable. The flexible scheduling options made it easy to fit lessons into my busy schedule. I highly recommend this driving school to anyone looking to learn how to drive safely and confidently.

Negative experience: After paying $120 online for 2hours private lessons, I came 15mins earlier than the tutor and the secretary, they told me they can’t give me a private lesson even with my driver lesson from my home country (Nigeria) and billed me $50 for a no show fee but they gave my Filipino flatmate her 2hours private lessons even with her Philippine driver’s license. I rented the car for my skills for $125 cash plus $50 for a no show when I came. This is just insane. It’s the racism for me

Negative experience: Do they enroll too many people than they can handle? My son has been trying to learn to drive since April 2023 and only has been given the virtual classes but for the actual driving on the road classes he tells me that the academy is booked for many months from now. It’s the end if August, his permit will expire and he won’t be able to complete the course that he has paid in full already.

Negative experience: Stay away from this place at all costs! Please! I just completed my drivers Ed stuff here a couple weeks ago and it was a truly terrible experience all around. The place was dirty, the instructors made me wildly uncomfortable, and I hated every second. I had taken the classroom portion online back in September but when I went to go book my in car driving lessons, I wasn’t able to book anything until JUNE! I had to squeeze in my last appointment with them, a week before my drivers test. When it came time to the in car portion, I didn’t know what to expect. First of all, my appointment was supposed to start at 1, the instructor didn’t get there until 1:10. We then had to wait even longer because we had to wait for the gas card because the car was almost empty. As we are leaving the lot, I was told to get into the passenger side because the students aren’t allowed to drive the cars on and off the lot. When she finally gets the car filled, we start to drive away and next thing I know; she is reaching across the center console to reach her phone that is ringing in her purse which she placed in the backseat and in the process is almost laying on me to reach this phone. We get pulled over to the side of the road and she takes the call all while I’m just waiting in the car by myself. (The call was about trail mix, I know this because she was screaming at the top of her lungs and I could hear from inside the car). When I finally get to driving, she grabs the wheel multiple times without telling me why, and when I was practicing backing up, she asked me if I was nervous and when I said no, she then screamed at me and said well then just drive properly and stop making mistakes. Fast forward to when I had my second and third lessons, I had a different instructor. These appointments were the first appointments of the day, so I get there and he first tells me to put my phone face down on the seat behind the drivers seat. I do as I’m told but then he proceeds to tell me how I am to drive off this lot (i thought students weren’t supposed to drive on and off the lot.) He also grabbed the wheel many times and in the process would grab my hand “on accident” and then one time after grabbing the wheel, proceeded to put his hand on my shoulder! I told him I wasn’t comfortable and he just got pissy with me. Also, what I noticed is, the instructors have different rules you have to follow. I had different answers to the same questions depending on who I was with. The male instructor I was with for my 2nd and 3rd lesson also wanted me to keep my speed right at what the posted limit was, couldn’t be one above or one below. I did my third lesson and was so happy to finally be done with these people. I was however told I would get a certificate proving I completed it, I never got a certificate. They also never updated my status on the website to show I had completed the lessons. Thankfully everything worked out in the end because I got my license. One more thing, these people don’t respond to emails; they are rude when you call them. I had to call them multiples to make sure my information was sent to the dmv when I was done with the lessons because they said they would update the system with the correct information and they never did. But when I called, they made it sound as if I was in the wrong for calling and asking about something as important as this. But take my story for whatever you will, I just want you to be cautious with this place. Please! Below is a picture of the inside of the classroom.

Negative experience: Horrible and avoid if at all possible. We bought the in class written test prep and the 6 hour behind the wheel lessons. The in class went well enough but the behind the wheel training was a no go. They said that they would only run through the test and he has to learn how to drive somewhere else. They said that if he showed up and he didn't know how to drive that they would stop the test and we'd have to try again and buy more hours to fulfill the 6 hours. These are the 6 hours mandated by MD DMV/MVA. We went to other driving schools who told us that this is not true and we had to get the MVA to call and tell them to give us our money back if they weren't going to do the behind the wheel training. The person at MVA wasn't surprised when we called and it sounded like this wasn't the first time they had heard this.

Fantastic experience: I can definitely said I’m glad I chose this place to learn how to drive, all the instructors are so helpful, and because of that I passed on my first time

Fantastic experience: Los recomiendo, muy buena experiencia tanto las clases teóricas con Jenny como las clases prácticas con el Sr. Nelson Valdés; gracias por compartir sus conocimientos y por preocuparse de que el alumno realmente esté preparado para enfrentarse no solo al examen de manejo si no también a la conducción diaria tras el volante.

Fantastic experience: I highly recommend Nelson Valdez as the driving instructor. He was very patient and encouraging and truly cares about his students. It was a great experience and I learned a lot with him.

Positive experience: Ms. Goode, the classroom instructor, is wonderful. She is great at teaching the MVA curriculum and does a fantastic job of engaging with the students. Jennie, the secretary, is also very kind and helpful when responding to questions and concerns. When I took my behind the wheel classes, I had a good experience with Waldo and Robien. They were both very patient and calm when supervising my driving. Unfortunately, my lesson with Nelson Valdes went terrible. He has a very repulsive attitude and demeanor. Throughout the entire lesson, he was inpatient with me and used excessive amounts of profanity. I was very uncomfortable the whole time and he later admitted to being ‘hard on me.’ He made me feel bad for making mistakes on the road and for being nervous. Said he couldn’t help me and even went on to raise his voice at me. His behavior is extremely concerning and inappropriate. If you get scheduled with him, find a different instructor. It seems that the driving school has allowed him to continue using profanity with students and talking down to them when they are unsure of his questions. I was never nervous with my other two driver instructors expect him. Overall, it’s a great place but do avoid your lessons with Nelson.

Negative experience: Melvi Howard Bell assaulted my friend during her ride. During the driving session my friend said he would touch the wheel to help her steer and then rested his hand on her thigh. She made it crystal clear that she was VERY uncomfortable by moving her leg and moving her body away from him but he proceeded to do it again. MULTIPLE TIMES! THIS IS DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR AND NEEDS TO BE ADDRESS IMMEDIATELY!

Fantastic experience: This school was very nice although I didn’t go to the driving school I need my extra practice hours here. The guy was nice very patient. Even the owner he was nice as well

Negative experience: Don’t recommend. You miss one class and you have to wait 1 whole month to redo it. Appointment for your in-person driving exam is a whole 2 months later since every date is booked. The communication is very poor. They never respond to emails. Also they take your money and never call you back to remind you to book your in-person driving test.

Negative experience: Finally, received my refund that was owed to me, my experience was still awful unprofessional managers and especially the owner. Glad I am finally able to cut tides with this driving school.

Negative experience: The classroom portion was very nice and so where the instructors but when it came to my first behind the wheel my instructor was terrible. I do not recommend Daniel at all. It started off okay at first and then through the middle of my lesson when I was turning he grabbed the wheel and turned in the other direction which almost lead to an accident I understand if he believed I wasn't doing it properly but I think that was a terrible way to handle it. I should not be in fear for my life next to a driving instructor. Then we get to the parking portion of the lesson. We went to Northwood high school and first he made me park and asked what some of the buttons do in the car and I did not know the a few of the names which caused Daniel to talk to me in a rude tone. After that I practiced driving backwards in a straight line and while I was preforming this action his hand was also on the wheel which after what happened with the turn I did not feel comfortable with him doing that and he even raised his voice at me telling me to trust him, Im sorry but that's not how you gain someones trust it just isn't. He then said something which I didn't hear so I asked if he could repeat it and that lead him to stop the car immediately and yell " Are you stupid , do you not understand English" which I found extremely offensive and it boosted up my anxiety tremendously. I found this behavior absolutely disgusting for a driving instructor not to mention how much he loved to talk about his dislike towards white people. I'm not sure who let this man become a driving instructor but they must not care for the well being of the students. Now that I have acquired my license I am not afraid to speak about this. 100% DO NOT RECOMMEND AT ALL. This man should be fired immediately.

Negative experience: Terrible driving school would not recommend. The school failed to send my information over to the MVA which caused me to have to reschedule my driving test for a later date very inconvenient and irresponsible then when I called to address the issue Jenny tried to make it seem like it was my fault. Family ran business very dysfunctional I usually don’t leave google reviews but my experience was horrible and the owner Wendy failed to even reach out so here you go.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful experience. My driving lessons teacher us an amazing teacher.

Fantastic experience: The best driving school in MD. Instructors are very patient and teach you really well. Classroom section was really fun. You learn a lot and are prepared for the final. The people working are super sweet and easy to reach over phone call. I loved my experience here and would definitely recommend it.

Fantastic experience: Me encanta la instructora muy buena maestra. La manera de explicar muy clara es fácil de recordar las preguntas y respuestas. La recomiendo

Fantastic experience: Very helpful Instructors, whether for online classes or in-car lessons

Fantastic experience: I took virtual drivers education here and it was great. I learned a lot and Ms. Wendy makes the class enjoyable and easy to understand.

Fantastic experience: Awesome school very well paced

Fantastic experience: I had a great experience with Silver Spring Driving Academy. Wanda is a really fun teacher, the behind the wheel lessons transformed my driving ability, and they were always really communicative and accommodating whenever something would come up. I highly recommend this program.

Fantastic experience: I just finished my Driver's Education course with time and I have no regrets choosing them, Ms. Wendy's super fun and makes the class enjoyable. Amazing driving academy, and they have this adorable dog that goes around sometimes. Amazing experience, would give 10 stars if it were possible. Definitely going to do all my behind the wheel hours with them! Highly recommend to anyone searching for a driving academy.

Fantastic experience: I highly recommend the classes are lively and interactive and they are flexible with their times and hours.And make sure you have Wanda as your teacher she makes 9 am classes fun

Fantastic experience: I had a very pleasant experience with Silver Spring Driving Academy starting with phone call yesterday. I called at the last minute to schedule a driving skills test for today and they were able to accommodate me. The owners and young lady at the front desk were very friendly and helpful. We arrived at MVA for the test and we were informed my paperwork was incorrect and I would have to reschedule. The owner left so I could go inside to figure out what was going on. I spoke with a manager and he got all my paperwork squared away. I called the owner and he was more than willing to return, so I could take my test. I would highly recommend this academy to anyone.

Fantastic experience: Knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and professional staff

Fantastic experience: Super professional driving school

Positive experience: For drivers education they are good. However for drive-ins, expect to be waiting several months. Their communication is also not the best, as they don't answer the phones or return calls either.

Fantastic experience: The instructors are very kind and helpful people. They help you a lot when you don’t understand the concept and also make the classes enjoyable. The staff is very nice and also friendly and help you. Recommend this school.

Fantastic experience: Very thorough training and compassionate instructors and staff.

Fantastic experience: Really liked it, very organized.

Fantastic experience: Les recomiendo a todos los que están buscando una escuela de manejo.

Negative experience: A friend of mine (Marc) had to drop out because he was tired of waiting for months for his in car classes. When I went there (a few months ago) an older man who said he was the owner creeped me out so much I never went back. Stay away!

Fantastic experience: Wendy was a very warm instructor and was very helpful and understanding of my situation. I had taken drivers ed before, but that school unexpectedly closed down, with no proof of my attendance. The Silver Spring Driving Academy was very nice to me when I explained this to them, and made sure that I had a spot in their classes. My time their went by effortlessly and I had a way better experience than at the previous school. My instructor Reuben was really patient and gave me some very helpful tips about parking.

Fantastic experience: My son attended the Silver Spring driving school several years ago and the Company is wonderful Now I'm signing up one of my grandkids Best driving school ever.

Fantastic experience: Very good people and teachers were fun and good vibes

Fantastic experience: This a good place all you have to worried about how fast you want the behind the wheel test done the owners are cool I respect everyone in there.

Fantastic experience: This is a great place to take classes for driving. I took my classes and my driving evaluations here. The instructors are all very great people and everyone is very nice here. I totally recommend coming here.

Positive experience: The teachers were helpful and understanding, everyone was very nice. I took the morning classes over the summer and got a lot of information, very thorough instructions. I really enjoyed it.

Fantastic experience: Easily got a morning english class and 2 behind the wheel lessons when i forgot to schedule them.

Fantastic experience: That they offered morning classes is what originally sold them for me. Wendy (who is co-owner with her husband) was a warm and helpful instructor. Her willingness to provide extra help to students having trouble grasping the information showed a level of caring that was lovely to see. With a morning and an evening class running concurrently, a wonderful thing I was witness to was their flexibility. I had people in my class switching between both the a.m. and p.m. classes because of work schedule conflicts. Same goes for the behind the wheel sessions. One student in my class had completed his 6 hours by the last day because he followed their advice and kept checking the website for openings due to cancellations. After witnessing that, I feel that any complaints about the wait for a driving appointment is more indicative of a client not paying attention. All in all I was very happy with my experience here and would absolutely recommend this business.

Positive experience: great school, very helpful teachers and employees, but it's impossible to schedule your in-cars

Fantastic experience: I Highly recommend this driving school, it's great and Instructors are very friendly and helpful.

Negative experience: Would not recommend this driving school to anyone unless you want your time wasted by their scheduling conflicts. Short story they scheduled me for behind the wheel driving for a certain date. They then changed the date without my knowledge, and didn't even apologize for the huge inconvenience.

Fantastic experience: They went far and beyond for me.I needed to take my behind the wheel classes sooner than the appointment I had scheduled and they set it up for me.very helpful and nice instructors. I recommend this driving school!

Fantastic experience: Best driving school ever

Negative experience: I'm not surprised to see these reviews from other women, the owner is supper creepy. Most of the time I felt fine with his wife, he was just so freaking lurker creepy it's not funny. I'm 19 year's old there is no chance that I'm even harboring any fanticies about doing anything with a bald old creeper. I unfortunatly had him take me to the DMV test very uncomfortable to say the least. I don't think DMV really cares either because my dad called to complain. I got my license fullfiled the requierments and hours but this was really creepy I think the wife must know.

Negative experience: If you are a reasonably attractive. Be aware of the male instructors and the owner. The school is run by a married couple. The owner will call the students one by one to his office in order to schedule the 3x2 hour driving session. In my case he tried to crack a move during a casual conversation by how "some people will be nice to you cos you are a woman and people want something such as sex and so on" and gave me a disgusting and long stare. You don't need a context for that. I did read a review a while ago on one of the customer complaint website how he tried to touch a young lady's bottom. The wife seems to have no idea. The instructor was in his 60's and very tall, about 6' 2''. If you see him you would know which one I am talking about. Watch out for him. I was very confused back then but now I know I should have complaint and asked for a replacement. He kept on touching me in the hand and made a multiple attempt to put his hand on my leg during the lesson. And after trying that few time he actually laid his hand on my leg for 3 seconds. I finally made it clear that it is not wanted by picking up his hand off my leg and threw away and gave him a disgusted look. He apologized and gave me a full mark. I would have still passed without the full mark. He also made an effort to tell me that I was lucky to get a full mark because sometimes insurance companies call the school for the transcript to determine the auto insurance premium. Was I supposed to be grateful for that? Both of these people are disgusting and unprofessional. Again if you are a woman especially reasonably attractive and more., watch out.

Fantastic experience: The instructors were all knowledgeable and taught in a way that was easy to understand, I had my 36 hours done by December 20th, and I had started on December 9th, very courteous scheduling. Instructor Schmoldt taught the class in a way that was engaging and easy to retain.

Negative experience: I would not recommend this driving school to anyone. The man who answers the phone and runs the business is argumentative and unhelpful. We needed a refund for the driving portion of the course work because there was not a spot available for this portion at this school for two more months (other schools in the area are able to provide the driving time within a week). My son was given a "Certificate of Completion" from the Silver Spring Driving Academy two years ago, which gave us the impression that he had what he needed to take to the MVA. He passed his driver's test at the MVA but wasn't able to get his license because the Certificate of Completion was only for the in-class portion. Now we need to pay another $280 for this portion to another school because the Silver Spring Driving Academy (to whom we had already paid $325) was not willing to work with us to provide that 6 hrs of driving until August (it is now June). He was not able to tell us how much he would refund us -- only that someone would get back to us when they had time but he indicated it would be "$90 max." I'm disappointed in their customer service and unwillingness to help us in a unique circumstance.

Fantastic experience: Silver Spring Driving School is great! I did my driver's ed at another school and then got extra hours behind the wheel and took the test with Silver Spring Driving School. My instructor was great and Mrs. Wendy was very encouraging and friendly.

Fantastic experience: I would recommend this school for drivers ed. the offices/ classroom were nice, everyone was super friendly. I went to the old address the first day so please note that they have moved to 2424 university boulevard (at the corner of university and georgia).