Best Public Schools in Edgewood, MD

The city of Edgewood, Maryland, is served by four public schools within the Harford County Public Schools district, including Edgewood High, Edgewood Middle, Deerfield Elementary, and Edgewood Elementary, which together enroll 3,512 students. While the district ranks in the top half of Maryland, all four Edgewood schools significantly underperform compared to district and state averages, particularly in mathematics. The most challenged school is Edgewood Middle, which has the lowest state percentile rank (27th) and a critically low 5% math proficiency rate, while also facing the highest chronic absenteeism at 35.2%. In contrast, Edgewood Elementary is the relative standout, holding the highest state percentile rank (33rd) and achieving a bright spot with its 3rd-grade English Language Arts proficiency of 56.3%, which actually exceeds the state average.

Key metrics reveal a city-wide crisis in math, with all schools far below the state average of 27.1% proficiency. Edgewood High shows a volatile performance, rebounding from a 10th percentile ranking to the 39th percentile, yet its math proficiency remains low at 10.9% with a 0% rate in Geometry. Chronic absenteeism is a severe problem, with Edgewood High (38.0%) and Edgewood Middle (35.2%) having rates more than double the district average of 18.5%. Economic disadvantage is high across all schools, with Deerfield Elementary having the highest rate of students receiving free/reduced lunch at 74.86%. Interestingly, Edgewood Elementary has the highest per-student spending ($22,106) but does not have the best academic outcomes, suggesting that funding alone is not the solution.

An interesting finding is the "3rd Grade Cliff" in mathematics, where both elementary schools show their strongest math performance in 3rd grade, but proficiency plummets by 5th grade, indicating a systemic failure to build foundational skills. Edgewood High presents a stark contrast, with ELA proficiency matching the state average while math is catastrophic, pointing to a specific weakness in math instruction. The data strongly suggests that chronic absenteeism is the likely root cause of poor performance, as the two schools with the highest absenteeism also have the lowest math scores. Any improvement strategy must prioritize tackling this issue, while Edgewood Elementary's 3rd-grade success shows that with the right support, students can achieve at high levels.