Summary:
In zip code 20653 (Lexington Park, MD), there are four elementary schools serving grades Pre-K through 8, all part of the St. Mary's County Public Schools district, which is ranked 7th out of 25 in Maryland.
The standout school in this area is Chesapeake Charter School, which serves grades K-8 and ranks in the top 25% of Maryland elementary schools (79th percentile). It dramatically outperforms the other schools, with 69.7% of students proficient in English Language Arts and 45.8% in Math—compared to just 20.9% and 7.1% at Lexington Park Elementary, which ranks in the bottom 8% of the state. Green Holly Elementary and Town Creek Elementary fall in the middle, ranking in the 64th and 58th percentiles respectively. Notably, Chesapeake Charter achieves these results with the lowest per-student spending ($16,810) and a higher student-teacher ratio (14.1), while Green Holly spends the most ($25,215) but performs worse, showing that spending does not directly equal success.
Chronic absenteeism is a widespread issue, with rates at Green Holly (28.0%) and Lexington Park (26.3%) near the district average of 27.3%, while Chesapeake Charter has the lowest rate at 19.5%. The data also reveals grade-level variability, such as at Town Creek where 3rd-grade Math proficiency (50%) drops to 25.8% by 5th grade. For parents, the key takeaway is that Chesapeake Charter School offers a highly efficient and academically excellent option, while the other schools face significant challenges related to poverty and attendance, making school choice critical in this zip code.
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