Best Public Schools in Crisfield, MD

The city of Crisfield, Maryland, is served by two public schools within the Somerset County Public Schools district, which serves a combined 878 students from elementary through high school in a community where a high percentage of students face economic disadvantage.

Crisfield Academy and High School is the standout performer in the area, showing remarkable improvement by jumping from the 16th percentile to the 54th percentile in state rankings over two years. Its English Language Arts proficiency of 42.6% significantly outpaces the district average of 34%, with 10th-grade ELA scores reaching 62%—above the state average. The school also boasts a strong 88.8% graduation rate and a low 6.3% dropout rate, less than half the district's rate. In contrast, Carter G Woodson Elementary has remained stable but stagnant, consistently ranking in the low 30th percentile with a 2-star rating. While its ELA proficiency of 38.8% is above the district average, and 4th-grade ELA reaches 52.2% (above the state average), the school struggles with a 39.2% chronic absenteeism rate—the highest in the district.

A critical weakness across both schools is mathematics. At the high school, only 6.4% of students are proficient in math, while the elementary school fares only slightly better at 18%. This math crisis persists despite very high per-student spending ($27,816 at the high school and $23,753 at the elementary school) and favorable student-teacher ratios (11.8:1 and 15:1, respectively). Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide challenge, with 31.4% at the high school and 39.2% at the elementary school. The data suggests that while the high school is implementing effective strategies for academic improvement and student retention, the elementary school faces foundational challenges in getting students to class, and both schools need targeted interventions to address their severe math proficiency gaps.