Summary:
The 13 public schools in zip code 21221 (Baltimore, MD), all part of the Baltimore County Public Schools district, serve students from elementary through high school and present a starkly divided educational landscape.
The most significant standout is Eastern Technical High School, a magnet school ranked 9th in Maryland with a 5-star rating, achieving 99.6% proficiency in English and 53.7% in math—dramatically outperforming its peers. In contrast, Kenwood High and Chesapeake High are 1-star schools with math proficiency rates of just 1% and 5.4%, respectively, and dropout rates exceeding 16%. Among elementary schools, Orems Elementary is the highest-ranked (3-star) and the only one exceeding the state average in math (36.4%), while Deep Creek Elementary is the lowest-ranked school in the zip code, with only 7.6% math proficiency. The average free/reduced lunch rate across all schools is 68.5%, ranging from 23.08% at Eastern Tech to 82.95% at Sandalwood Elementary.
A critical finding is that higher spending does not correlate with better outcomes: the lowest-performing schools like Mars Estates Elementary ($23,567 per student) spend the most, while Eastern Tech spends the least ($15,647). Chronic absenteeism is a systemic crisis, averaging 31.5% across the zip code, with Kenwood High (43.2%) and Chesapeake High (42.9%) most affected. Despite these challenges, Middleborough Elementary and Orems Elementary are bright spots, outperforming district averages in math despite high poverty rates, suggesting effective leadership can make a difference even in difficult circumstances.
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