Southern Garrett High School

Southern Garrett High School in Oakland, MD, serves 870 students in grades 7 through 12 and is part of the Garrett County Public Schools district, which ranks 9th out of 25 districts in Maryland. The school has shown notable improvement from a low point a few years ago, with math proficiency nearly tripling from 9.1% in 2022-2023 to 26.6% in 2025-2026, and its state ranking jumping from the 17th to the 56th percentile. However, it still lags behind its district peer, Northern Garrett High School, which ranks in the 87th percentile and has significantly higher English Language Arts proficiency (72% vs. 49.8%).

The school's most pressing challenge is chronic absenteeism, with 32.4% of students chronically absent in 2024-2025—nearly 10 percentage points above the district average of 22.9% and higher than Northern Garrett's 27.7% rate. This persistent issue, which has been above the district average for five consecutive years, likely undermines academic progress. Despite comparable per-student spending ($20,311 vs. $19,890 at Northern Garrett), outcomes differ dramatically, suggesting that resource allocation and program effectiveness need attention, particularly in addressing absenteeism and low ELA proficiency.

There are bright spots worth noting: 8th-grade math is a standout strength, with 42.3% of students proficient—far exceeding the state average of 9.6% and even the district average of 40.2%. In contrast, Algebra I proficiency is a weakness at just 18.5%, below both the district (25.5%) and state (21.3%). The school's graduation rate of 93.7% is slightly higher than Northern Garrett's 92.7%, though dropout rates are similar. Overall, Southern Garrett is a school in transition, making gains but still facing significant hurdles, especially in chronic absenteeism and math performance at the high school level.