The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Walter S. Mills - Parole Elementary
Walter S. Mills - Parole Elementary is a regular public school in Annapolis serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system. The school’s enrollment is large for an elementary school, with a student body that is predominantly Hispanic and Black, and a very small share of white students. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a high level of economic need.
State testing results for the most recent school year show that students at Mills-Parole Elementary met the proficiency standard at a low rate in all three tested subjects. In English language arts, the portion of students scoring proficient was just over a quarter when averaged across grades three through five. In math, the combined proficiency rate was lower still. In fifth-grade science, only a very small share of students reached the proficient level. The strongest year for the school in English language arts was third grade, where about a third of students were proficient, but by fifth grade that share dropped to a level that may concern parents. In math, the decline was similar, with fifth-grade proficiency falling sharply relative to the earlier grades. These numbers represent a single year of data, so there is no prior trend to compare them against, and a parent may want to ask the school about recent progress and intervention strategies.
The school serves an enrollment that is not small for its grade band, and its demographics reflect the surrounding community in the Parole area of Annapolis. Annapolis itself is a compact, historic state capital with a walkable downtown built around the Maryland State House, City Dock, and St. John’s College. The economy is anchored by state government, the U.S. Naval Academy, county government, and the tourism and maritime sectors. Housing in the area is expensive relative to national benchmarks, and rents are high, consistent with the wider Annapolis housing market.
The district recently opened a new comprehensive high school in Severn, which may affect attendance boundaries in the western part of the county, but that change does not directly affect Mills-Parole Elementary given its location in Annapolis itself. Because Mills-Parole is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report from its own data. No programs or course access data were available in the provided information, and civil rights discipline data were also absent.
For a parent or resident reading this report, the picture is of a high-need elementary school in a high-cost city, serving a predominantly low-income student population. The school’s academic performance on state assessments is weak across subjects and grades, with a particularly sharp drop in fifth grade. A family considering this school would want to speak directly with school leadership about how the school supports student learning and progress, what interventions are in place for the later elementary grades, and what resources exist for the large share of English learners and economically disadvantaged students the enrollment data suggests are present.
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