Summary:
There are five elementary schools serving grades PK-5 in the 21044 zip code of Columbia, Maryland, all part of the highly-rated Howard County Public Schools district.
Clemens Crossing Elementary is the standout performer in this area, consistently earning a 4-star rating and ranking in the top 14% of Maryland elementary schools. It leads all local schools in MCAP proficiency for Math (57.9%), ELA (67.9%), and Science (56.5%), and has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 11.7%. In contrast, Running Brook Elementary and Bryant Woods Elementary face the greatest challenges, with the highest rates of chronic absenteeism (31.0% and 26.5%, respectively) and the lowest test scores. Swansfield Elementary sits in the middle with a 3-star rating, though it showed a concerning decline in both Math and ELA proficiency year-over-year. Longfellow Elementary also struggles, with ELA proficiency at just 40.6%.
A key finding is the "spending paradox": the two lowest-performing schools, Running Brook ($26,760 per student) and Bryant Woods ($25,646), have the highest per-student spending, while top-performing Clemens Crossing spends the least ($19,838). This suggests higher spending is a response to greater student needs rather than a driver of success. Additionally, smaller class sizes do not guarantee better outcomes—the three lowest-performing schools have the smallest student-teacher ratios (9.5:1 to 11.4:1), while Clemens Crossing has the largest (14:1). Chronic absenteeism emerges as the strongest predictor of performance, with a clear divide between schools where most students attend regularly and those where nearly a third are chronically absent.
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