Summary:
Zip code 20685 in Saint Leonard, Maryland, is home to a single elementary school, St. Leonard Elementary, which serves grades PK through 5 and is part of the high-performing Calvert County Public Schools district, ranked 3rd in the state.
St. Leonard Elementary shows a mixed performance profile. The school excels in early math, with 3rd-grade proficiency (59.7%) nearly matching the district average and far exceeding the state. However, math proficiency drops sharply in 4th and 5th grades to around 28%, a significant red flag. Overall, the school's math scores (39.2% proficient) are above the state average (27.1%), while its English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency (55.1%) also beats the state (51.7%) but lags behind its strong district (66.6%). The school has a very favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.6:1 and high per-student spending of $21,782, yet its overall state ranking sits at the 65th percentile (304th out of 864 schools), a slight decline from the prior year. Chronic absenteeism is a concern at 19.4%, above the district average of 17.3%, and nearly half of the students (48.63%) qualify for free or reduced lunch.
The most notable finding is the "3rd grade peak" in math, suggesting a potential curriculum gap or challenge in transitioning to more complex concepts in upper grades. Despite high resource investment, the school's ELA performance is a relative weakness compared to its district peers. The school's state ranking has been stable over three years, indicating consistent performance despite these internal grade-level disparities. For parents, this school offers strong early math instruction and small class sizes, but the significant drop in upper-grade math and above-average chronic absenteeism are key areas to investigate further.
Thank you for your feedback!