Robert Moton Elementary, Westminster MD

Original Research by School Decision on Robert Moton Elementary

Robert Moton Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Westminster, the county seat of Carroll County. It is a regular public school within the Carroll County Public Schools district, not a charter or magnet school. The school sits in a part of Westminster that is woven into the town’s residential fabric, not far from the historic downtown Main Street corridor and the campus of McDaniel College.

The student body is majority white, with a sizable Hispanic population and smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Slightly more than half of the students come from families with economic need, as measured by the free and reduced-price meal program. This places the school in a different economic context than some of its peers in the county. Data on the share of students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

On state assessments administered through the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, Robert Moton’s proficiency rates fall in a moderate range for an elementary school serving a community with this level of economic diversity. In English language arts, the combined proficiency rate across tested grades was modest, with a dip at the fifth-grade level that parents may want to discuss with the school. In math, the combined rate was a bit lower, with fourth grade showing the weakest results of the three tested grades. In science, which is tested only in fifth grade, the proficiency rate was low. A single year of data does not show a trend, so it is not possible to say whether these results reflect a recent change or a more established pattern. Parents considering the school will want to ask about the supports in place for students who are not yet meeting benchmarks, and about how the school addresses the drop in performance that appears between the lower and upper elementary grades.

Because Robert Moton serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school’s academic program was not described in the available data beyond the core subjects tested by the state, and no information about course offerings, arts, or enrichment was present. The school’s staffing levels, class sizes, and chronic absenteeism rate were also absent from the record. These are gaps a parent would want to fill by visiting the school or contacting the district.

The surrounding housing market in the zip code that serves Robert Moton is priced above the national median home value, and rents are similarly elevated relative to typical household incomes, reflecting the broader cost of living in Carroll County. Westminster itself is a car-dependent town with a walkable downtown core but no inter-county transit. The city’s largest employer is the school district itself, followed by McDaniel College and county government, giving the area an institutional, professional feel. The town has invested in a community-wide fiber network, and its annual Memorial Day parade is a longstanding civic tradition.

For a family trying to understand whether this school fits, the profile is one of a typical Carroll County elementary school serving a moderately diverse and economically mixed population, with state test results that are not among the strongest in the county. The school’s strongest suit may be its setting—a stable, well-resourced small city with strong civic anchors and a district that is the area’s dominant employer. The academic weaknesses shown in the available data, particularly in math and science, are worth a direct conversation with the school’s leadership to understand what interventions and curriculum supports are in place.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 341%

School 41% · district not reported

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 347%

School 47% · district not reported

even with state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · district not reported

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

Grade 535%

School 35% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Science

Grade 513%

School 13% · district not reported

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

This schoolCarroll County 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 3Lower-income20%Higher-income29%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income12%Higher-income34%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income13%Higher-income27%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income7%Higher-income21%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income8%Higher-income31%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income13%Higher-income40%27 pp gap