Summary:
Zip code 21901 in North East, Maryland, is served by two public elementary schools, North East Elementary and Bay View Elementary, both part of the Cecil County Public Schools district, which holds a 2-star rating and ranks 17th out of 25 districts in Maryland.
For parents comparing the two schools, Bay View Elementary stands out as the stronger performer. It holds a higher state ranking (577 out of 864, 33rd percentile) and a 2-star rating, while North East Elementary ranks lower (684 out of 864, 21st percentile) and has dropped to a 1-star rating. Bay View also posts better academic results, with all-grades math proficiency at 22.7% and ELA at 36.7%, compared to North East’s 17.2% and 29.2%, respectively. Additionally, Bay View has a lower chronic absenteeism rate (17.0%) than North East (23.4%), which is a key indicator of student engagement. Notably, Bay View achieves these results despite having a higher percentage of students eligible for free/reduced lunch (62.65% vs. 57.89%) and slightly lower per-student spending ($16,696 vs. $16,796), suggesting that factors like school culture and teaching quality may be driving its success.
A critical concern at North East Elementary is a steep decline in math proficiency as students advance: 3rd graders score 29.4% proficient, but this drops to 13.8% in 4th grade and just 9.2% in 5th grade, indicating a potential issue with upper-grade math instruction. Both schools, however, trail state averages significantly—for example, 5th-grade science proficiency is 19.7% at Bay View and 9.2% at North East, versus the state average of 32.4%. This highlights systemic challenges across the zip code in meeting state academic standards, making it important for parents to consider these performance gaps when evaluating school options.
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