The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in English language arts. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Northwood Elementary
Northwood Elementary, a regular public school in the Baltimore City Public Schools district, serves students from prekindergarten through seventh grade. The student body is predominantly Black, with much smaller shares of Hispanic, white, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. While the school lists a handful of students in sixth and seventh grade, its core enrollment is concentrated in PK through fifth grade, making it effectively an elementary school with a small overflow in the upper grades.
The school is located in the northeastern part of Baltimore, on Loch Raven Boulevard, a corridor that runs through residential neighborhoods of the city. Baltimore itself is a city with a dense, walkable urban fabric, historic districts, and a service-oriented economy anchored by major institutions such as Johns Hopkins Hospital and University. The city has experienced a modest population decline in recent years. For families considering housing near the school, home values and rents in the surrounding zip code are below the state median, and the estimated monthly housing costs are such that a typical household in the area would spend a manageable share of income on rent, making this a comparatively affordable part of the regional market.
On state assessments, Northwood’s results show a pattern common to many urban elementary schools: some grades and subjects are stronger than others, and performance generally falls below state averages. In English language arts, third graders posted a proficiency rate that falls within a reported range, while fourth graders reached a notably stronger level, with a solid share of students meeting the bar. Fifth-grade ELA results dropped off, with just under a third of students scoring proficient. In math, the story is more uneven. Third and fourth graders both showed modest proficiency rates, but fifth-grade math was a steep drop, with a low share of students scoring proficient. On the fifth-grade science assessment, proficiency was lower still.
When compared across all tested subjects and grades, Northwood’s overall performance sits in the top quartile relative to other school districts within Baltimore city, though that comparison set includes only a limited number of districts, so the positioning should be read with that narrow frame in mind. What this means is that within the city’s public school landscape, Northwood’s combined proficiency picture is among the stronger ones, even if the absolute numbers are below what families might see in wealthier suburban districts.
State testing data for grades six and seven was not available, likely because the school has very few students in those grades, and the school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available at the time of publication. A family considering Northwood should note that the school’s academic profile is mixed by grade level and subject, with some bright spots in fourth-grade literacy and a general need for support in upper-elementary math and science. Given the small upper-grade enrollment, parents of middle-school-aged children may want to ask the school directly about programming for those students and how the school prepares them for the transition to a full middle school.
No recent district-level changes of lasting parent impact were reported in publicly available sources, so the context for Northwood remains steady within a large urban district that has long faced challenges in raising achievement across its schools. For a family living in or moving to northeast Baltimore, Northwood represents a neighborhood school with a diverse, mostly low-income student body, affordable housing nearby, and an academic record that is stronger than some of its city peers but still leaves room for parents to be attentive to how their child is tracking, particularly in math and science as they near the end of elementary school.
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