Pinewood Elementary

Pinewood Elementary in Timonium, MD, is a top-performing public school serving 598 students from Pre-K through 5th grade in a supportive, affluent community within the Baltimore County Public Schools district. With a decade-long track record of excellence, it has never ranked below the 96th percentile in Maryland and currently holds an elite state rank of 18th out of 864 schools, placing it in the top 2% statewide.

Pinewood’s standout strength is its exceptional English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, with 84.2% of students meeting standards—32.5 percentage points above the state average and notably higher than nearby high-achieving schools like West Towson Elementary (78.8%) and Timonium Elementary (78.4%). Its 4th-grade ELA proficiency of 88.2% is the highest among comparable schools in the area. The school also boasts a remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of 6.9%, nearly four times lower than the district average of 25.6% and far better than nearby Hampton Elementary (18.2%) and Mays Chapel Elementary (12.7%). While math proficiency is strong overall at 71.7%, there is a slight decline from 78.5% in 3rd grade to 66.4% in 5th grade, an area the school may want to monitor.

Pinewood is part of a tight corridor of exceptional schools—including Riderwood Elementary (ranked 5th) and Timonium Elementary (ranked 36th)—all sharing low economic disadvantage rates and high family engagement. Interestingly, Pinewood’s success is not driven by higher spending; it spends $16,645 per student, less than lower-performing schools like Lutherville Laboratory ($21,211) and Padonia International Elementary ($20,927). This suggests that community wealth, strong school leadership, and active parental involvement are key drivers of its outstanding outcomes.