Summary:
In zip code 21539, there is one elementary school, George's Creek Elementary, serving grades PK through 5 in Lonaconing, MD, as part of the Allegany County Public Schools district.
George's Creek Elementary is a school on the rise, showing impressive academic improvement over the last two years. The school has jumped from the 34th percentile (2 stars) in the 2023-2024 school year to the 56th percentile (3 stars) in the 2025-2026 school year, a significant gain of 22 percentile points. A standout strength is math proficiency, where the school's overall rate of 37.5% outperforms both the district (26.6%) and the state of Maryland (27.1%). However, English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency at 49.5% lags slightly behind the district average of 53.1%. The school serves a high-poverty community, with 69.12% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, yet it maintains a lower chronic absenteeism rate (25.6%) compared to the district average (33.6%), suggesting strong family engagement and a positive school culture.
A critical area for investigation is a significant drop in performance between 3rd and 5th grade. In math, 3rd grade proficiency is 50% (above the state), but 5th grade proficiency plummets to 16% (well below the state). Similarly, in ELA, 3rd grade proficiency is 61.1% (well above the state), but 5th grade proficiency drops to 26.9% (well below the state). This "5th grade cliff" may point to a need for stronger upper-grade instruction or a specific cohort issue. The school also spends a substantial $19,701 per student, which is high, but has not yet translated into top-tier overall performance, especially in ELA and 5th-grade subjects. Overall, George's Creek Elementary is a school with clear strengths in math and a positive trajectory, but with notable challenges in sustaining academic gains through the upper elementary grades.
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