Prince Street School

Prince Street School in Salisbury, MD, is a large elementary school serving 976 students in grades PK-5 within the Wicomico County Public Schools district, and it serves a high-poverty community where nearly 73% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

One of the most unique aspects of Prince Street School is its strength in mathematics. In the 2025-2026 school year, 27.9% of students were proficient in math, which is actually above the district average of 24.9%, while only 23.5% were proficient in English Language Arts (ELA). This is a complete reversal of the trend seen at every other nearby school, where ELA scores are significantly higher than math scores. For example, at North Salisbury Elementary, just 1.6 miles away, ELA proficiency (57.6%) is 7 points higher than math (50.6%). Prince Street’s 3rd-grade math proficiency (42.4%) is a notable bright spot, nearly identical to the state average, but this drops dramatically to 22.3% in 4th grade and 19.1% in 5th grade, suggesting a need for stronger support in upper elementary math. The school also has the highest student-teacher ratio (15.2:1) among comparable schools, and its per-student spending ($15,949) is the lowest in the area, despite serving a high-needs population.

Chronic absenteeism has been a major challenge, but the trend is strongly positive. The rate has dropped from a peak of 51.4% during the pandemic to 18.6% in 2024-2025, which is now below the district average of 22.4%. This improvement is a significant achievement and could be a leading indicator for future academic gains. The contrast with nearby North Salisbury Elementary is striking: North Salisbury is a 4-star school in the 75th percentile, with a lower poverty rate (49% vs. 73%), lower chronic absenteeism (11.9% vs. 18.6%), and dramatically higher test scores, such as 5th-grade science (47.2% vs. 14.9%). This highlights the significant impact of socioeconomic factors and school-level effectiveness within the same district.