Best High Schools in Zip Code 21046

Zip code 21046 in Columbia, Maryland, is home to a single high school, Hammond High, which serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of the highly-rated Howard County Public Schools district.

Hammond High presents a striking academic paradox. The school is a powerhouse in English Language Arts (ELA), with 77.1% of students proficient—far exceeding both the district and state averages. However, it struggles significantly in mathematics, where only 12.8% of students are proficient, a rate well below the state average of 27.1%. This extreme disparity is the school's most defining characteristic. While the school's overall state ranking has rebounded to the 64th percentile after a dip, this recovery is driven almost entirely by its strong ELA scores, masking a persistent and severe weakness in math that appears to be worsening in advanced courses like Algebra II.

Despite spending a high $20,375 per student, the school's math outcomes are critically low, raising questions about resource allocation. Furthermore, there is a notable disconnect between high test scores in reading and other key metrics: the graduation rate of 89.0% is below the district average, while the chronic absenteeism rate of 22.9% and dropout rate of 6.4% are both significantly higher than district norms. This suggests that while many students excel in reading, a substantial portion of the student body may be disengaged, impacting overall school completion and attendance.