Summary:
Zip code 21050 in Forest Hill, MD, is home to two high-performing elementary schools, Forest Hill Elementary and Forest Lakes Elementary, both serving grades K-5 (with Forest Lakes also offering Pre-K) within the Harford County Public Schools district.
Forest Hill Elementary is the standout school in the area, ranking 59th out of 864 Maryland elementary schools (93rd percentile, 5-star rating) and showing strong upward momentum from 164th in 2023-2024. It consistently outperforms Forest Lakes Elementary (ranked 125th, 86th percentile, 4-star rating) in overall Math (62.6% vs. 54.9%), ELA (78.3% vs. 72.5%), and 5th-grade Science (58.7% vs. 52.0%) proficiency. However, a fascinating contrast emerges in 3rd grade: while both schools achieve nearly identical Math scores (77.5% vs. 76.6%), Forest Lakes Elementary surges ahead in 3rd-grade ELA with an impressive 87.2% proficiency, compared to Forest Hill Elementary's still-excellent 80.3%. This suggests Forest Lakes Elementary has a particularly strong early literacy program, though it shows a notable decline in Math proficiency from 3rd to 5th grade (76.6% to 39.5%), while Forest Hill Elementary maintains more consistent performance (77.5% to 57.3%).
Both schools serve relatively affluent populations with low free/reduced lunch rates (15.74% at Forest Hill, 21.25% at Forest Lakes) and exceptionally low chronic absenteeism (7.6% and 7.2%, respectively), which is less than half the district average of 18.5%. Spending per student is nearly identical ($18,918 vs. $18,990), making the performance gap between the two schools particularly interesting and likely attributable to differences in instructional strategies or school culture rather than funding. Overall, both schools far exceed district and state averages in all subjects, with Forest Hill Elementary's Math proficiency (62.6%) more than double the district (28.4%) and state (27.1%) averages, marking both as excellent choices for families in the area.
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