Overlea High

Overlea High is a large, traditional public high school in Baltimore, MD, serving 1,474 students in grades 9-12 within the Baltimore County Public Schools district, where 65.4% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Overlea is a low-performing school with a 1-star rating, ranking in the 19th percentile statewide. Its most critical challenge is an extreme math proficiency deficit: only 2.4% of students are proficient in math, which is the second-lowest rate among its direct peers and a fraction of the district average (21.9%). This is far below even nearby struggling schools like Parkville High (5.3%) and Perry Hall High (6.5%). Chronic absenteeism is a systemic crisis at 44.8%, nearly double the district average of 25.6%, and is a primary driver of poor academic outcomes. The graduation rate has stagnated around 80.4%, consistently lagging behind the district average of 84-86%. While spending per student ($16,720) is below the peer average, it is important to note that high spending does not guarantee success—Achievement Academy at Harbor City High spends $42,618 per student but has an 8.0% graduation rate.

There is a glimmer of hope in English Language Arts (ELA), where Overlea’s proficiency of 35.7% is comparable to other struggling schools like Parkville High (47.2%) and better than Patterson High (24.8%). However, the starkest contrast is with Eastern Technical High School, a magnet school just 2.64 miles away with a 5-star rating and math proficiency (53.7%) over 22 times higher than Overlea’s. This highlights extreme educational inequality within the same district, where Overlea serves as the comprehensive, non-selective alternative. The dropout rate, while volatile, improved to 13.4% in 2024-2025, but remains above the district average of 12.1%.