Summary:
This analysis examines 12 elementary schools in the 21224 zip code of Baltimore, Maryland, which serve students from Pre-K through 5th, 6th, or 8th grade and are split between the Baltimore City Public Schools and Baltimore County Public Schools districts.
Hampstead Hill Academy is the clear academic leader, earning a 4-star rating and being the only school to exceed state averages in both math (50% proficient) and English Language Arts (65.6% proficient). It also has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (9.7%) and the lowest economic disadvantage rate (40.09%), despite having the highest student-teacher ratio (19.8). In contrast, Highlandtown Elementary/Middle #237 has the lowest math proficiency (5.4%) and Highlandtown Elementary/Middle #215 has the highest chronic absenteeism (42.6%). Patterson Park Public Charter School shows the most improvement, rising from the 25th to the 37th percentile in state rankings over three years. The two Baltimore County schools, Colgate Elementary and Berkshire Elementary, have lower chronic absenteeism than the city average but still struggle with academic performance.
Key metrics reveal significant challenges. The zip code average for math proficiency is just 14.1%, far below the state average of 27.1%, and ELA proficiency averages 28.6% versus the state's 51.7%. Chronic absenteeism averages 23.5% but ranges widely from 9.7% to 42.6%. Per-student spending averages $22,702, with William Paca Elementary spending the most ($28,167) despite low academic performance (9th percentile), while Hampstead Hill spends below average ($21,452). A stark finding is the strong inverse relationship between absenteeism and performance, and a "middle school slump" is evident, with math proficiency dropping significantly from 3rd to 8th grade across the area.
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