Summary:
Zip code 20736 in Owings, Maryland, is home to a single high school, Northern High, which serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of the highly-rated Calvert County Public Schools district.
Northern High stands out as a high-performing school with a rapidly improving state ranking, moving from the 68th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 85th percentile (4 stars) in 2025-2026. The school's greatest strength is English Language Arts (ELA), where 82.3% of students were proficient in the 2025-2026 school year, dramatically outperforming both the district (66.6%) and state (51.7%) averages. However, overall math proficiency is a significant weakness at just 28.7%, though this represents a strong 9.1 percentage point improvement from the previous year. An interesting anomaly is Algebra II, where 80.6% of test-takers were proficient compared to only 15.8% in Algebra I, suggesting that advanced math students are thriving while foundational math remains a challenge.
With an enrollment of 1,478 students, a student-teacher ratio of 18.5:1, and per-student spending of $16,256, Northern High achieves strong academic outcomes without exceptionally high funding. The school serves a relatively affluent community, with only 20.57% of students receiving free or reduced lunch, and chronic absenteeism sits at 17.1%, slightly below the district average. For parents, the key takeaway is that Northern High excels in literacy and is on an upward trajectory overall, but families should be aware of the significant gap between ELA and math performance when considering the school's academic profile.
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