Summary:
Jessup, Maryland, is served by four public schools—two elementary, one middle, and one high school—spanning two districts, Howard County Public Schools and Anne Arundel County Public Schools, with a total enrollment of about 3,479 students and a high level of economic need reflected in an average free/reduced lunch rate of 47.3%.
The most critical concern is Guilford Park High, which faces a severe crisis with a 16.6% graduation rate and a 41.6% dropout rate, far below its district’s 91.3% and 4.9% averages. Its math proficiency (10.8%) and Algebra I proficiency (8.1%) are extremely low, while chronic absenteeism sits at 29.1%. This is especially striking because the school spends the most per student ($21,328) yet underperforms its top-ranked district. In contrast, Jessup Elementary (Anne Arundel County) is a bright spot, outperforming its district in math (29.6% vs. 29.3%) and excelling in 5th-grade science (43.6% vs. 37.8% district and 32.4% state), with a rising state ranking from the 48th to 55th percentile. Meanwhile, Bollman Bridge Elementary (Howard County) serves a similar demographic but stagnates below its high-performing district averages, highlighting that district success doesn’t guarantee school-level results.
At Patuxent Valley Middle, a troubling "math cliff" emerges: 6th-grade math proficiency is 19.1%, dropping to 14.4% in 7th grade and plummeting to just 4% in 8th grade, signaling a need for targeted intervention. Overall, while Howard County Public Schools ranks 4th in the state, its Jessup schools lag significantly, and the high school crisis at Guilford Park High—with its extreme dropout and absenteeism rates—demands immediate attention, overshadowing the relative strengths seen at Jessup Elementary.
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