Summary:
Zip code 20860, covering the Sandy Spring area, is home to a single elementary school, Sherwood Elementary, which serves grades Pre-K through 5th and is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools district.
Sherwood Elementary stands out as a high-performing school with strong academic results. In the 2025-2026 school year, its overall proficiency rates in Mathematics (52%) and English Language Arts (66.7%) significantly exceed both the district and state averages. The school has shown a positive trajectory, improving its state ranking from the 71st percentile in 2024-2025 to the 78th percentile in 2025-2026. This success is supported by favorable resources, including a low student-to-teacher ratio of 12.1:1 and a high per-student spending of $21,435. However, a notable finding is a sharp decline in math proficiency as students progress, dropping from 70.6% in 3rd grade to 32.4% in 5th grade, which falls below the district average. Additionally, the school has a chronic absenteeism rate of 21.2%, meaning over one in five students miss significant school time, though this is slightly better than the district average.
Despite serving a population where 25.7% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, Sherwood Elementary consistently outperforms its peers. The school’s year-over-year improvement is strong, with math proficiency jumping from 43.5% to 52% and ELA from 57% to 66.7% between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. This upward trend, combined with high resource allocation, suggests effective leadership and instruction, though the drop in upper-grade math and the absenteeism rate are areas for potential focus.
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