Summary:
In zip code 20872, there is one high school, Damascus High, serving grades 9-12 in Damascus, Maryland, as part of the Montgomery County Public Schools district.
Damascus High is a school of stark contrasts. It is a standout performer in English Language Arts (ELA), with 73.2% of students proficient, significantly outpacing both the district (58.5%) and state (51.7%) averages. However, it faces a critical challenge in mathematics, where only 5% of students are proficient—a figure dramatically lower than the district's 36.9% and the state's 27.1%. This 68-percentage-point gap between ELA and math proficiency is extreme and suggests highly compartmentalized instructional strengths. The school boasts a strong graduation rate of 93.1% and a low dropout rate of 3.1%, both better than district averages. A major red flag is the chronic absenteeism rate of 34.4%, which is significantly higher than the district's 22.6% and likely a primary driver of the low math scores. The school spends $20,784 per student, a high level of investment, yet this does not appear to be translating into math success.
Despite the math crisis, Damascus High maintains a stable overall state ranking, currently 45th out of 227 high schools in Maryland (80th percentile, 4 stars). This suggests that the school's strong ELA performance and high graduation rate are heavily weighted in the ranking formula, masking the severity of the math issue. For parents, this means the school offers excellent literacy instruction and a supportive environment for graduation, but families should be aware of the significant math challenges and the high rate of chronic absenteeism. The school's unique performance profile makes it a clear outlier within the highly-ranked Montgomery County Public Schools district.
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