Summary:
Zip code 21853, serving Princess Anne, Maryland, is home to a single high school, Washington Academy and High School, which serves grades 8 through 12 and is part of the Somerset County Public Schools district.
Washington Academy and High School serves 619 students and faces significant challenges. Academic achievement is a primary concern, with proficiency rates well below state averages. For the 2025-2026 school year, only 6.4% of students were proficient in mathematics compared to 27.1% statewide, and just 31.7% were proficient in English Language Arts versus 51.7% statewide. The school also has a high dropout rate of 16.9%, which exceeds the district average of 13.2%. A key contextual factor is that 76.9% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a highly economically disadvantaged population. Despite spending $23,352 per student—a significant amount—the school's performance remains low, suggesting that factors beyond funding are critical drivers of student outcomes.
There are a few notable nuances in the data. While overall performance is low, the school shows a relative strength in literacy, with 8th-grade ELA proficiency (27.9%) actually exceeding the district average (24.3%). Additionally, the school's chronic absenteeism rate of 32.8% is slightly below the district average of 33.7%, which is unusual given the high dropout rate. This suggests the dropout issue may be concentrated among a specific subgroup rather than reflecting school-wide disengagement. The school's state ranking has also been volatile, fluctuating from the 8th percentile in 2022-2023 to the 26th percentile in 2024-2025, indicating instability rather than a clear trend of improvement or decline.
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