Fort Hill High

Fort Hill High in Cumberland, MD, serves 655 students in grades 9-12 and is part of the Allegany County Public Schools district, with over 53% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. This school has shown a strong upward trend, achieving a 3-star rating and 55th percentile rank in the 2025-2026 school year, its highest in a decade, though it faces persistent challenges in math and attendance.

Fort Hill’s biggest strength is English Language Arts (ELA), where 57% of students are proficient—outpacing the state average of 51.7% and nearby Mountain Ridge High School (51.5%). However, math proficiency is a critical weakness at just 18.5%, well below the district average of 26.6%. Interestingly, Fort Hill excels in Algebra II with a 72.7% proficiency rate, far exceeding the state’s 27.1%, but this likely reflects a small, advanced group of students, as Algebra I (15.6%) and Geometry (15.8%) scores are very low. Chronic absenteeism is a severe issue, with 45.4% of students chronically absent—higher than Allegany High (41.2%) and the district average (33.6%). This persistent problem likely impacts math performance, which requires cumulative learning.

Compared to Allegany High, just 2.64 miles away, Fort Hill shows more volatility. While Allegany has a higher and more stable graduation rate (92.0% vs. Fort Hill’s 91.1%) and leads in ELA (64.6%), Fort Hill’s recent state ranking is slightly higher (55th vs. 58th percentile). Despite spending more per student ($15,701) than both Allegany ($15,443) and Mountain Ridge ($15,211), Fort Hill underperforms in key areas like math and attendance, suggesting that financial resources alone aren’t solving these challenges. The school has recovered significantly from pandemic-era lows, but high absenteeism remains a lingering concern.