Summary:
Zip code 20906 in Silver Spring, Maryland, is home to two public middle schools—A. Mario Loiederman Middle and Argyle Middle—serving grades 6-8 within the Montgomery County Public Schools district, a highly-rated system ranked 8th in Maryland.
When comparing the two schools, Argyle Middle emerges as the stronger performer overall. It holds a slightly higher state rank (200th vs. 214th) and outperforms A. Mario Loiederman Middle in nearly every academic metric, including overall Math proficiency (14.4% vs. 11.1%) and English Language Arts proficiency (40.7% vs. 40.2%). Both schools, however, face significant challenges. Their Math and ELA scores are well below both the district and state averages, with a particularly alarming "math crisis" in 8th grade—at Argyle Middle, 0% of 8th graders were proficient in Math, while only 3.8% were at A. Mario Loiederman Middle. Chronic absenteeism is a major issue at both schools, hovering around 20%, meaning one in five students misses significant school time. Interestingly, A. Mario Loiederman Middle spends more per student ($19,728 vs. $18,501) despite having slightly lower test scores, raising questions about resource allocation.
Despite these struggles, there is a small positive trend: Math proficiency increased modestly at both schools from the previous year. Both schools serve a high-poverty population, with over 61% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, and have similar student-teacher ratios (around 13:1). For parents, the key takeaway is that while Argyle Middle is the higher-performing option in this zip code, both schools face systemic academic challenges that require targeted support, particularly in math and attendance.
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