The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Rolling Knolls Elementary
Rolling Knolls Elementary is a regular public school in Annapolis, Maryland, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It operates as part of Anne Arundel County Public Schools, the large countywide district. The school occupies a building on Valley Road in Annapolis, a city that functions as the state capital, the county seat, and a historic waterfront community. Enrollment at Rolling Knolls is in the low hundreds, a modest size for an elementary school.
The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. White students make up the largest group, followed by a substantial share of Hispanic students, then Black, Asian, multiracial, and a very small number of American Indian or Alaska Native students. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a marker of economic need that aligns with the school’s status as a Title I school (though the data does not confirm that designation explicitly). Staffing, class size, and attendance data were not available in the source material, so those dimensions cannot be described here.
On the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP), Rolling Knolls shows a mixed picture by grade and subject. In mathematics, proficiency rates vary: third-grade performance is substantially below the midpoint, fourth grade reaches just above half of students meeting the bar, and fifth grade also lands at about half. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency is lower, fourth grade is weaker still, and fifth grade is the strongest subject-area result at the school, with nearly three in five students scoring at or above the proficient level. Fifth graders also take the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA), where roughly half of test-takers reached proficiency. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects sits in the middle range. Because only one year of test data is available, there is no basis for describing a trend.
The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies, and chronic absenteeism data was not reported.
The surrounding community of Annapolis shapes the context families will encounter. Annapolis is a compact, walkable city centered on the Maryland State House and a historic downtown along the waterfront. It is home to St. John’s College, and the U.S. Naval Academy sits just outside the city limits. Major employers include state government, county government, the Naval Academy, the college, and the tourism and maritime sectors. The city is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, and its population has grown modestly in recent years. The city government manages planning and zoning, and the City Council has standing committees on economic development and environmental matters. Outside the downtown core, neighborhoods become more auto-oriented, with suburban-style development.
Housing in the school’s zip code is expensive. Home values are well above the national and state benchmarks, and monthly rents are high. A typical household would need a significant income to afford local rents or a mortgage. The county’s unemployment rate is moderate, and the national mortgage rate has been fluctuating in the mid-six percent range.
At the district level, Anne Arundel County Public Schools recently opened a new comprehensive high school in Severn, which redrew attendance boundaries for some families in the western part of the county. No other parent-relevant changes were found in the available material.
Rolling Knolls Elementary is a mid-sized, diverse neighborhood school with academic performance that is strongest in fifth-grade English language arts and weakest in the lower elementary grades in both math and reading. The high cost of local housing and the central Annapolis location mean that families moving into the attendance area should be prepared for a competitive market. Parents interested in specific student support programs, class sizes, or after-school offerings may want to follow up with the school directly, as that information was not included in the public data reviewed here.
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