Best Public Schools in Zip Code 21655

Summary:

The 21655 zip code is home to a single public elementary school, Preston Elementary School, which serves grades PK-5 with 396 students. The school is part of the Caroline County Public Schools district, which is ranked 14 out of 25 districts in Maryland and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Preston Elementary School appears to be performing relatively well, particularly in mathematics, with 48.2% of students proficient or better in MCAP Mathematics in 2024-2025, compared to 22.2% for the Caroline County district and 26.5% for the state of Maryland. However, the school faces some challenges, including a higher-than-average chronic absenteeism rate of 28.0% and a relatively high percentage of students (55.05%) receiving free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-need student population.

In terms of other academic performance, Preston Elementary School's English Language Arts proficiency rate of 50.0% in 2024-2025 was on par with the Caroline County district (49.0%) and the state of Maryland (50.8%), while its 5th-grade science proficiency rate of 21.4% was lower than the state average of 25.6%. The school's spending per student of $20,066 and student-teacher ratio of 14.1 to 1 suggest a relatively well-resourced institution, though further analysis would be needed to fully understand its performance and resource allocation.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MCAP Mathematics (2025)				MCAP English Language Arts (2025)				MCAP Science (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MCAP Mathematics 3rd Grade	MCAP Mathematics 4th Grade	MCAP Mathematics 5th Grade	MCAP Mathematics All Grades	MCAP English Language Arts 3rd Grade	MCAP English Language Arts 4th Grade	MCAP English Language Arts 5th Grade	MCAP English Language Arts All Grades	MCAP Science 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Preston Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	225 Main St	Preston	21655	Caroline County	Caroline County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(410) 479-2897	381	28	13.6	60.1%	271 (71.1%)	32 (8.4%)	46 (12.1%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (7.3%)	62.9	310^th of 865 public elementary schools	64.2%		58.8	314^th of 859 public elementary schools	63.4%	4	56.7	47.8	38.2	48.2	47.8	56.5	47.3	50.0	21.4	$20,066	$2,685	$17,381

Cities Near Zip Code 21655

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Preston	1.64 mi	1	114^th
Federalsburg	4.36 mi	3	177^th
Hurlock	7.51 mi	3	193^rd
Easton	8.8 mi	3	205^th
Secretary	8.91 mi	1	90^th

See the top MD Maryland cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Maryland State Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.