Best High Schools in Zip Code 21045

This analysis examines two public high schools in Columbia, MD (zip code 21045): Oakland Mills High and Long Reach High, both part of the highly-rated Howard County Public Schools district, serving grades 9-12 in a suburban area.

Long Reach High stands out as the stronger-performing school in this zip code. It ranks 109th in Maryland (52nd percentile, 3 stars) for the 2025-2026 school year, compared to Oakland Mills High at 126th (44th percentile, 2 stars). Long Reach also shows a positive ranking trend, moving from the 32nd to the 52nd percentile over three years. Academically, Long Reach outperforms Oakland Mills in nearly every metric, particularly in mathematics, where 14.2% of students are proficient versus 7.8% at Oakland Mills. Both schools have identical student-teacher ratios (13.7:1) and similar per-student spending (around $20,700), indicating that resource allocation is not the primary driver of performance differences.

A critical finding is the severe math proficiency gap at both schools compared to district and state averages. While Long Reach (14.2%) nearly doubles Oakland Mills (7.8%), both are far below the district average of 42.1% and state average of 27.1%. In contrast, English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency is a relative strength, with both schools (61.9% and 62.8%) close to the district average (65.9%) and well above the state average (51.7%). Chronic absenteeism is a major issue, with rates of 31.3% at Oakland Mills and 28.3% at Long Reach—nearly double the district average of 17.4%. This likely contributes to the schools' overall challenges, including graduation rates (84.9% at Oakland Mills, 84.0% at Long Reach) that lag behind the district average of 91.3%.