Summary:
Zip code 21029 in Clarksville, Maryland, is home to a single, exceptional middle school, Clarksville Middle, serving grades 6 through 8 as part of the highly-rated Howard County Public Schools district.
Clarksville Middle is a standout school by nearly every metric. It has a phenomenal ranking history, having been ranked #1 in the state of Maryland for the 2023-2024 school year and consistently holding a top-10 position with a 5-star rating. Academically, the school dramatically outperforms both its district and the state in every subject. For example, in the 2025-2026 school year, 72.8% of all students were proficient in Math (vs. 42.1% district and 27.1% state), and 81.8% were proficient in English Language Arts (vs. 65.9% district and 51.7% state). The school also boasts very low chronic absenteeism at 7.7% (compared to the district average of 17.4%) and a very low poverty rate, with only 6.63% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch.
A key takeaway is that advanced math is the norm, not the exception, at Clarksville Middle. Proficiency rates for high school-level math exams taken by middle schoolers are nearly universal: 95% for Algebra I, 100% for Algebra II, and 95.8% for Geometry. This is a massive outlier compared to state averages, which are typically below 45%. While the school's state ranking has slipped slightly from #1 to #7 over three years, its test scores have remained remarkably stable, indicating the change is likely due to other schools improving rather than a decline in performance. The school remains an elite performer with a combination of high resources, low absenteeism, and exceptional academic results.
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