Original Research by School Decision on Reginald F. Lewis High
Reginald F. Lewis High is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Baltimore, part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. It is not a charter school. The school has an enrollment roughly in the mid-hundreds for a four-year high school, with a notable dip in the senior class compared to earlier grades, which is a pattern a family may want to discuss with the school.
The student body is predominantly Black, with a relatively small share of Hispanic students and a very small number of students identifying as white or with multiple races. A large majority of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community with substantial economic need. Data on the share of students with disabilities and English learners was not reported in the available records, so a parent looking for information on those support structures would need to contact the school directly.
On academics, the single data point available from the most recent year shows that in English language arts, roughly two-fifths of students met the state's proficiency standard. This is a modest figure that places the school in a position where many students are working at a level below the state benchmark. Science testing data for an earlier year was suppressed in reporting, so no reliable picture of performance in that subject is available for that period. The school serves only high school grades, and no four-year graduation rate was available in the data provided. A parent considering this school may want to ask the school about its graduation rate directly, as well as what support is in place for students who are not yet meeting proficiency targets in reading and writing.
When placed relative to other districts in Baltimore city, the comparison could not assign a position on overall proficiency, graduation rate, or chronic absenteeism because the necessary school-level data was not present. This is not unusual for a high school within a single-district city, where the comparison pool of districts is very small, but it does mean that a parent cannot use this data to benchmark the school's performance against its neighbors in the city.
The school sits within Baltimore, a city that has shifted from an industrial past to a service-oriented economy, with Johns Hopkins Hospital and University as the dominant employers. The city has a distinctive urban character: historic neighborhoods like Fell's Point and Mount Vernon, a dense collection of public monuments, and a walkable downtown centered on the Inner Harbor. Major civic anchors include the National Aquarium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and Fort McHenry. Population has seen a slight decline in recent years, and a major infrastructure project to replace the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is underway. For a family living in Baltimore, this school serves a specific city neighborhood and draws from the wider district. A parent interested in the school's academic trajectory, support for college and career readiness, and specific program offerings would need to inquire further, as detailed course and pathway information was not available in the data.
See more original research from School Decision →