The top reported proficiency rate is 54% in English language arts. The lowest is 37% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Fort Smallwood Elementary
Fort Smallwood Elementary is a regular public school in Pasadena, Maryland, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system. The school draws from a community that is a predominantly residential census-designated place. Pasadena is car-dependent suburban development with no traditional downtown. It experienced rapid growth in the decades leading up to the 2020 census, and its population has continued to grow. The area has a very low housing vacancy rate and a high owner-occupancy rate, and many residents commute to jobs elsewhere in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.
The enrollment at Fort Smallwood Elementary is small enough that a parent will likely find a familiar feel. The student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of students who are Hispanic and a smaller share who are Black; Asian and multiracial students each account for a very small portion of the school’s population. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is below what many nearby schools report. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or English learner support was not available in the school’s profile.
On state assessments, the school’s academic picture is mixed. In English language arts, a little more than half of students scored at the proficient level or above across grades three through five. That result is a middling one, and a parent looking at the grade-level breakdown will see some variation: fourth graders performed above the school’s average, while the fifth-grade figure was closer to half. In mathematics, the story is weaker. Across the three tested grades, proficiency rates were below two-fifths, with the fifth-grade rate the lowest in the school. In science, tested only in fifth grade, about two-fifths of students demonstrated proficiency. These math and science numbers are soft spots. A parent whose child struggles in math may want to look into what supports the school offers. The school’s overall proficiency index could not be compared with other schools in the county, because only one year of data was available and the comparison cohort was too small. Only a single year of test results was reported, so there is no trend line to show whether performance is improving or declining.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism and discipline were also missing from the profile, so a parent who is concerned about attendance or school climate may want to ask the school directly for that information.
For parents who value a school that draws from a stable, growing suburban community with a high rate of homeownership and a commuter profile, Fort Smallwood Elementary sits in that context. Its test results point to a school where English language arts is the relative strength and math and science are areas where proficiency is lower. Without trend data or a county comparison, it is difficult to say how this school’s performance stacks up against its neighbors. The district recently opened a new high school, Severn Run High School, in the western part of the county, which redrew some attendance boundaries, but that change is for the secondary level and does not directly affect this elementary school’s feeder pattern.
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