Summary:
In zip code 20640, Indian Head, Maryland, there is one high school, Henry E. Lackey High School, which serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of the Charles County Public Schools district.
Henry E. Lackey High School has a total enrollment of 1,033 students and presents a mixed picture of performance. A standout strength is its English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, where 52.2% of students are proficient, outperforming both the district average of 45.6% and the state average of 51.7%. However, this is contrasted by a critical weakness in mathematics, with only 5.3% of all students proficient in math, which is far below the district (17%) and state (27.1%) averages. The school’s state ranking has been volatile, recently improving to the 36th percentile in 2025-2026 after a low of the 12th percentile in 2023-2024. The graduation rate is 85.4%, below the district’s 90.3%, and the dropout rate is 8.0%, higher than the district’s 5.4%.
A major concern is the chronic absenteeism rate of 42.5%, which is dramatically higher than the district average of 26.6% and likely contributes to academic struggles. The school spends a substantial $19,573 per student, yet math results remain very low, raising questions about resource allocation. An interesting anomaly is that Algebra II proficiency (16.4%) is actually higher than the district average (10%), suggesting that students who persist to that level may benefit from more effective instruction. With 59.63% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a majority low-income population, making the strong ELA performance a notable achievement amidst significant challenges in math and attendance.
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