Summary:
In zip code 21217, there is only one middle school, Booker T. Washington Middle, which serves grades 6 through 8 and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools district.
Booker T. Washington Middle is a small school with 192 students and a low student-teacher ratio of 9.1, which could allow for personalized attention. However, the school faces severe challenges. It consistently ranks in the bottom 1-4% of all Maryland middle schools, and academic proficiency is extremely low: only 2.4% of students are proficient in Math, 17.3% in English Language Arts, and 0% of 8th graders are proficient in Science. The most critical issue is a chronic absenteeism rate of 71.4%, which is far higher than the district average of 46.4% and likely the main reason for the poor academic results. The school spends a very high $33,882 per student, yet this investment has not translated into better outcomes, creating a stark "money vs. outcomes" paradox.
Despite these difficulties, there is a small positive trend in English Language Arts, where 7th graders (22.6% proficient) perform slightly better than 6th graders (17.9%), suggesting some students may be making progress. The school also has a very high rate of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (95.31%), indicating a student body facing significant socioeconomic challenges. Overall, Booker T. Washington Middle is a school with immense needs, where high spending and small class sizes have not yet overcome the barriers of extreme poverty and chronic absenteeism.
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