Graceland Park/o'donnell Heights Elementary/middle, Baltimore MD

Original Research by School Decision on Graceland Park/o'donnell Heights Elementary/middle

Graceland Park/O’Donnell Heights Elementary/Middle is a regular public school in southeast Baltimore serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of Baltimore City Public Schools, the district that oversees all public schools in the city. The school is not a charter school, and information about magnet status or Title I designation was not available in the data reviewed.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of Black students and a small number of white students and students of other races and ethnicities. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that the school serves a community with high economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported in the materials examined, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how it supports those groups.

State testing results from the 2024-25 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program are available for math and English language arts across grades three through eight, and for science and social studies at certain grades. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was low at every grade level, with the highest rate seen in grade three and the lowest in grade six. In English language arts, proficiency rates varied more across grades, with grade six and grade seven showing a notably higher percentage of students meeting the bar than the other grades tested. Science results, measured by the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment, showed very low proficiency in grade five and below a tenth of students in grade eight. The social studies assessment in grade eight also showed a low proficiency rate. When compared against other districts within Baltimore city, the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades placed above the midpoint of the cohort.

Because the school serves only through eighth grade, it has no graduation rate to report. The data also did not include information on chronic absenteeism or disciplinary rates, so it is not possible to assess those dimensions of school climate from the material at hand.

The school sits in a neighborhood in the city of Baltimore, a place that has shifted from an industrial past to a service-oriented economy anchored by Johns Hopkins Hospital and University, the Port of Baltimore, and civic amenities around the Inner Harbor. The city has a dense historic fabric, with many blocks of rowhouses and a walkable urban character in areas like Fell’s Point and Federal Hill. Population has declined slightly since the 2020 census, and a major infrastructure project to replace the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is underway, with completion estimated for late 2028. Housing values in the zip code associated with the school are well below the statewide and national benchmarks, and rents are at a level where a typical household would spend about a quarter of income on rent, suggesting a relatively affordable housing market by regional standards. No recent district-level changes that would directly affect parents, such as boundary redraws or program closures, were found in the available research.

This is a school where most measures of academic proficiency are below what many families would hope for, particularly in math and science. The English language arts results in middle school grades show a brighter spot, but overall the pattern is one of low attainment on state assessments. For a parent considering this school, it would make sense to visit, talk to teachers and families, and ask about supports for students who are behind grade level, as well as any advanced or enrichment opportunities. The school serves a community with high economic need, and the surrounding city is dense, historic, and has a strong institutional base, but also faces population loss and infrastructure hurdles. This combination of low proficiency rates, a high-need student population, and an urban setting undergoing transition means this school likely fits a family that is prepared to partner closely with the school and supplement academic support at home, rather than one looking for a school where high proficiency rates are the norm.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 317%

School 17% · district not reported

▼ 20 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 415%

School 15% · district not reported

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 56%

School 6% · district not reported

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 64%

School 4% · district not reported

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 710%

School 10% · district not reported

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · district not reported

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 323%

School 23% · district not reported

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 425%

School 25% · district not reported

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · district not reported

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 640%

School 40% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 737%

School 37% · district not reported

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · district not reported

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Science

Grade 54%

School 4% · district not reported

▼ 16 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · district not reported

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 17% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

This schoolBaltimore City Public Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income11%Higher-income11%0 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income26%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income11%Higher-income17%6 pp gap