G. Lisby Elementary at Hillsdale

G. Lisby Elementary at Hillsdale in Aberdeen, MD, is a public school serving 528 students in grades PK-5 as part of the Harford County Public Schools district, located in a community where over 70% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

This school faces significant challenges, particularly in math and science. In the most recent school year, only 24.1% of all students were proficient in math, compared to the district average of 28.4%, and 5th-grade math proficiency dropped to just 11.5%. Science proficiency in 5th grade was also low at 19%, far below the district average of 39.8%. However, there is a notable bright spot in 4th-grade English Language Arts (ELA), where 56% of students were proficient—higher than the state average of 48.6%. This suggests a potential area of instructional strength. A concerning trend is the "5th-grade cliff," where proficiency drops dramatically from 4th to 5th grade in both math (from 34.2% to 11.5%) and ELA (from 56% to 32.1%), which is much steeper than the district average. Nearby Bakerfield Elementary, which has a similar poverty rate, outperforms G. Lisby in nearly every subject, showing that high poverty does not have to limit achievement.

On a positive note, the school has made impressive progress in reducing chronic absenteeism, which dropped from a peak of 41.6% in 2021-2022 to 17.7% in 2024-2025, a key factor in its recent ranking improvement. Additionally, G. Lisby spends $17,799 per student, which is higher than many higher-performing nearby schools like Churchville Elementary ($16,351), indicating that resources are available but may need to be deployed more effectively. The school also shows relative strength in serving low-income students, ranking in the 56th percentile for this subgroup, suggesting its interventions are appropriately targeted even if overall scores remain low.