Summary:
In zip code 21155, Upperco, Maryland, there is a single elementary school, Fifth District Elementary, serving grades K-5 with 262 students, and it stands out as an exceptional academic performer within the Baltimore County Public Schools district.
Fifth District Elementary is a top-tier school, ranking 12th out of 864 elementary schools in Maryland for the 2025-2026 school year, placing it in the 99th percentile with a 5-star rating. This is a consistent trend, as the school has improved its ranking from 20th in 2023-2024 to 15th in 2024-2025, showing sustained excellence. Academically, the school dramatically outperforms both its district and the state. For example, 86.6% of students are proficient in English Language Arts compared to 46.1% for the district and 51.7% for the state, and 76.2% are proficient in math versus 21.9% for the district and 27.1% for the state. The school also has a low student-teacher ratio of 15.6:1 and spends $21,235 per student, which supports its high performance.
A key factor is the school's low free/reduced lunch rate of 15.65%, indicating a low-poverty student population that often correlates with strong academic outcomes. While the school excels in math and ELA, 5th-grade science proficiency at 69.2% is a relative weakness compared to its own ELA rate of 92.3% for that grade, though it still more than doubles the state average of 32.4%. Chronic absenteeism is low at 9.7%. Overall, Fifth District Elementary is a standout "pocket of excellence" in a district that ranks 18th out of 25 in Maryland, making it an outstanding choice for families in the area.
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