Summary:
Lonaconing, Maryland, is home to a single middle school, Westmar Middle, which serves grades 6 through 8 and is part of the Allegany County Public Schools district. With 258 students, the school presents a mixed picture of academic performance, marked by a notable strength in English Language Arts (ELA) and a significant challenge in mathematics.
Westmar Middle’s overall ELA proficiency of 45.6% is close to the district and state averages, and its 7th-grade ELA score of 56% actually exceeds both. However, the school’s math proficiency is critically low at just 4.7%, far below the district average of 26.6%. Most alarmingly, 0% of 8th graders were proficient in math. This stark contrast suggests a systemic issue with math instruction that does not affect reading. Interestingly, the school’s Algebra I end-of-course exam proficiency (19%) is higher than the district average (13.8%), likely because only advanced students take that test. The school’s state ranking has also declined over the past two years, dropping from the 57th percentile to the 38th percentile.
Despite these challenges, Westmar Middle benefits from a low student-teacher ratio of 9.6:1 and a high per-pupil spending of $25,944, which is well above national averages. The school also has a high rate of economic disadvantage, with 63.57% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, and a chronic absenteeism rate of 32.5%. The combination of high spending and low math results raises questions about resource allocation. For parents, the key takeaway is that Westmar Middle offers strong ELA instruction, particularly in 7th grade, but requires urgent and targeted intervention in mathematics to reverse its declining trajectory.
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