Summary:
The three public high schools in St. Mary's County Public Schools—Leonardtown High, Great Mills High, and Chopticon High—serve about 5,341 students across grades 9-12 in a Maryland district ranked 7th out of 25 districts statewide. The standout performer is Leonardtown High, which ranks in the top 13% of Maryland high schools (87th percentile) and is the only school in the district to earn a 4-star rating. In contrast, Great Mills High faces significant challenges, ranking in the 49th percentile, while Chopticon High sits in the middle with a 66th percentile ranking.
Key metrics reveal stark differences. Leonardtown High boasts a 94.9% graduation rate and an exceptional 83.1% English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, far exceeding the district average of 58.5% and the state average of 51.7%. Great Mills High, however, has the lowest graduation rate (83.0%), the highest dropout rate (13.9%), and the highest chronic absenteeism rate (39.7%). Chopticon High performs solidly with a 90.0% graduation rate and 67.6% ELA proficiency, but all three schools struggle with math proficiency—Leonardtown leads at just 32.2%, while Great Mills (17.5%) and Chopticon (15.4%) fall well below the district average of 36%.
An interesting finding is the inverse relationship between spending and performance: Great Mills High receives the highest per-student funding ($17,379) but achieves the lowest outcomes, while Leonardtown High spends the least ($15,689) and performs best. This suggests that socioeconomic factors, such as the free/reduced lunch rate (57.45% at Great Mills vs. 21.95% at Leonardtown), and chronic absenteeism are stronger predictors of success than spending alone. Additionally, Chopticon High shows inconsistent subject performance—while its overall math is low, its Algebra II proficiency (79.4%) is the highest in the district, indicating that students who advance to higher-level courses excel, but many may not be adequately prepared for those tracks.
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