The top reported proficiency rate is 24% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Berkshire Elementary
Berkshire Elementary sits in a residential pocket of Baltimore, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within Baltimore County Public Schools. The surrounding city has a dense, historic urban fabric with walkable neighborhoods like Fell’s Point and Federal Hill, a service-oriented economy anchored by Johns Hopkins Hospital and University, and civic life concentrated around the Inner Harbor. Population has seen a modest decline in recent years, and a major infrastructure project to replace the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is underway. Parents considering Berkshire should know that the school draws from a specific attendance zone within this larger city context, and its offerings are shaped by the district’s wide-ranging policies.
The student body is diverse. The largest demographic group is Hispanic students, followed by white students, then Black students, with smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating that the school serves a community with significant economic need. The school is a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet.
On the Maryland state assessments, administered through the MCAP for English and math and the MISA for science, proficiency rates are low across all tested grades. In third-grade English, roughly a quarter of students scored at the proficient level or above. Fourth-grade English was close to that mark, and fifth-grade English was slightly higher. In math, the picture is notably weaker. Third-grade math proficiency was below a fifth of students. Fourth-grade math fell sharply, and fifth-grade math was lower still. On the fifth-grade science assessment, proficiency was low as well. Because this is the only year of data available for the school on these tests, there is no trend to compare against. These results are part of a single snapshot from the 2024-2025 school year. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the specific instructional supports in place, especially in math, and how the school is addressing these low attainment levels.
The neighborhood comparison was not available. The data set used provided only one district in Baltimore County for this specific metric comparison, which is too small a group to produce a meaningful relative positioning. The county itself has many schools and districts, but for this particular comparison framework, Berkshire could not be placed relative to its peers on overall proficiency, graduation rate, or chronic absenteeism. District-wide information from Baltimore County Public Schools adds some relevant context. The district has recently adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum aligned with the science of reading, has implemented a district-wide cell phone policy restricting use during instructional time, and is in the early phases of implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a multi-year state plan that includes expanding pre-K access and increasing teacher salaries. These changes apply to Berkshire as part of the district.
For a family evaluating Berkshire Elementary, the core academic picture is what stands out most. The school offers a full elementary span from pre-K through fifth grade, and it serves a high-need population. The test results show a student body that is struggling to reach proficiency, particularly in mathematics. The district is making investments in early literacy curriculum, which may affect future English scores, but math performance is a clear soft spot. A parent looking at this school would want to understand what interventions and supports are currently in place for struggling students, how the school uses its Title I resources if it is a Title I school, and how the district’s new literacy initiatives are being implemented in the classroom. The housing context in the surrounding zip code shows home values below the national median and rents that are modest relative to income, which is consistent with the area’s economic profile. Berkshire Elementary is a neighborhood school in a city with deep historic character and major institutional employers, but the academic data suggests a setting where families should be prepared to be actively engaged with the school around their child’s academic progress.
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