James Mchenry Elementary/middle, Baltimore MD

Original Research by School Decision on James Mchenry Elementary/middle

James McHenry Elementary/Middle is a regular public school in Baltimore serving students from prekindergarten through eighth grade. It operates within the Baltimore City Public Schools district. The school is not a charter or magnet school. It is located on Schroeder Street in the 21223 zip code, an area of the city where housing values are well below the state and national medians, and rents are moderate relative to income. A family considering this school will want to understand that the community has seen a slight population decline in recent years, though a major infrastructure project, the replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, is underway with an estimated completion in the late 2020s. The city's economy is service-oriented, with Johns Hopkins Hospital and University as top employers.

The student body at James McHenry is predominantly Black, with a very small share of white, Hispanic, and Asian students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with high economic need. The school enrolls enough students across each elementary and middle grade to form regular classroom cohorts. The school environment and access data, including discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance, were not available in the materials reviewed. Similarly, information about the school's Title I status and special population counts for students with disabilities and English learners was missing.

State testing results from the 2024-25 school year are available across multiple grade levels and subjects. In mathematics, proficiency rates were low in every tested grade, with a combined rate across all grades and subjects that places James McHenry above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Baltimore city, though the comparison set includes only two districts, so that is a thin field. In English language arts, the pattern was mixed: proficiency rates in the lower elementary grades were low, but by sixth grade the rate climbed to a more substantial level, and seventh and eighth grades also showed a meaningful share of students meeting the bar. In science, tested in fifth and eighth grades, proficiency was absent in fifth grade and present for a modest share of eighth graders. In eighth grade social studies, a modest share of students performed at the proficient level. Only one year of assessment data was available, so no trend over time could be calculated.

James McHenry covers a full pre-K through eighth-grade span, so a student who begins here can stay through the end of middle school. There is no graduation rate to report, as the school does not serve high school grades. The school's program offerings, such as any specialized courses, career pathways, or extracurriculars, were not described in the data provided. A parent interested in what enrichment or elective opportunities exist would need to ask the school directly.

For a family thinking about this school, the academic picture is one where a large majority of students in most grades are not yet reaching the state's proficiency standard, particularly in math and science. The elementary ELA results are soft, but the middle school ELA results suggest that by the upper grades, a larger group of students is meeting expectations, which could indicate that some students find their footing as they advance. Given the high level of economic need, a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports, tutoring, or intervention programs are in place. The absence of data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing makes it harder to assess the learning environment beyond test scores. Families considering this school should ask about class sizes, teacher retention, and how the school supports students who are behind grade level.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 312%

School 12% · district not reported

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 49%

School 9% · district not reported

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

Grade 52%

School 2% · district not reported

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 69%

School 9% · district not reported

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

Grade 76%

School 6% · district not reported

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

Grade 82%

School 2% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 312%

School 12% · district not reported

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 416%

School 16% · district not reported

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 510%

School 10% · district not reported

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · district not reported

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

Grade 837%

School 37% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · district not reported

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 17% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above 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 6Lower-income21%Higher-income25%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income17%Higher-income12%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income7%Higher-income23%16 pp gap