Park Hall Elementary

Park Hall Elementary in Park Hall, MD, is a mid-sized school serving 569 students in grades PK-5 within St. Mary's County Public Schools, where a majority of families (58.5%) qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating significant economic need. The school has consistently ranked in the lower half of Maryland elementary schools with a 2-star rating, and while it has shown some improvement from its lowest point in 2018-2019, it has plateaued in recent years, hovering around the 45th-47th percentile.

The most critical challenge at Park Hall is chronic absenteeism, which at 35.4% is dramatically higher than nearby high-performing schools like Evergreen Elementary School (20.6%) and Chesapeake Charter School (19.5%), and even exceeds schools with similar demographics like Green Holly Elementary School (28.0%) and Greenview Knolls Elementary (25.1%). In terms of academics, Math proficiency is a relative strength in early grades, with 3rd and 4th graders scoring competitively with the district, but there is a sharp drop in 5th grade to 22.4% proficiency, well below the district average of 37.3%. English Language Arts performance is a consistent weakness, with the school trailing the district by 9-15 percentage points across all grade levels.

Interestingly, Park Hall spends a notably high $19,368 per student, significantly more than the high-performing Evergreen Elementary School ($14,965) and Chesapeake Charter School ($16,810), yet outcomes remain low—a pattern shared with other struggling schools in the district. This suggests that the primary barriers are non-academic, such as poverty and absenteeism, rather than a lack of resources. On a positive note, 5th-grade Science scores have shown a strong upward trend, moving from 11.9% proficient to 27.1%, offering a potential starting point for improvement. For families considering options, Park Hall performs significantly better than its closest neighbor, Lexington Park Elementary, which is one of the lowest-performing schools in the state.