Summary:
This analysis examines five elementary schools in the 21113 zip code of Odenton, Maryland, all part of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools district, serving grades PK through 5 with enrollments ranging from 506 to 587 students.
Two schools stand out as top performers. Two Rivers Elementary School is a standout outlier, achieving the highest proficiency rates in English Language Arts (71.8%) and the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (6.9%) in the zip code, despite having the highest student-teacher ratio. Waugh Chapel Elementary is the highest-ranked school for the 2025-2026 school year (183rd out of 864) and posts the highest Math proficiency rate (50.0%). In contrast, Seven Oaks Elementary requires attention, with the lowest state rank (488th), lowest proficiency rates in Math (26.0%) and ELA (42.7%), and the highest percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunch (55.53%). Odenton Elementary also struggles, with proficiency rates below the district average and the highest chronic absenteeism rate (23.8%). Piney Orchard Elementary achieves above-average results despite having the lowest spending per student ($15,689).
Key takeaways include a strong correlation between poverty rates and academic performance, with schools serving higher percentages of students on free/reduced lunch generally showing lower test scores. Chronic absenteeism is a leading indicator of academic challenges, as the school with the highest absenteeism (Odenton Elementary) also has the second-lowest performance. Notably, higher spending per student does not guarantee better results, as Piney Orchard Elementary outperforms Odenton Elementary despite spending less. The data also reveals that Two Rivers and Odenton Elementary, both in Odenton, serve vastly different demographic populations, likely due to school boundary lines separating neighborhoods by socioeconomic status.
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