Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School, Newburg MD

Original Research by School Decision on Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School

Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the unincorporated community of Newburg, Maryland, as part of Charles County Public Schools. It is a regular public elementary school with an enrollment that is typical for its grade band. The school sits on the Cobb Neck peninsula along the Potomac River, a rural, car-dependent setting where waterfront homes are common and housing values run well above the national average. Newburg has no downtown; its civic and commercial features amount to two stores, a lodge hall, and a fire department, so most shopping and dining requires a drive north to La Plata. The community draws a mix of young families, retirees, and second-home owners, many commuting to the D.C. area for work.

State assessment results from the most recent school year offer a mixed academic picture. In English language arts, most third graders and fifth graders met the proficiency benchmark, while fourth graders performed at a lower level, with under half reaching that mark. In mathematics, the performance was more uneven. Third and fifth graders scored near the midpoint in proficiency, but fourth graders showed a notably weaker result, with only about a quarter of students proficient. Science, tested only in fifth grade, saw a little over two-fifths of students meeting the standard. Only one year of data was available, so it is not possible to identify a trend or compare against prior performance. Overall, the school’s math proficiency was below the half mark, while its ELA proficiency was slightly above it.

The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial minority of Black students and smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. About two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a moderate level of economic diversity. Data on special education and English learner populations were not reported in the records examined, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.

No chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing figures were available, and no program offerings such as gifted education or specialized services were listed in the data reviewed. The district brief identified no recent changes that would directly affect families at this school. For older grades, Higdon Elementary feeds into Piccowaxen Middle School and then La Plata High School, both a substantial distance from the neighborhood.

The academic record suggests a school where reading is a relative strength, with a majority of tested students in two of three grades hitting the benchmark. Math performance is more of a question, especially for fourth graders, and a parent may wish to inquire about the school’s approach to math instruction and intervention. With limited publicly available data on staffing ratios, discipline, and support programs, families looking for a full picture of daily school life and climate will likely need to reach out to the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · district not reported

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

Grade 541%

School 41% · district not reported

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · district not reported

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 558%

School 58% · district not reported

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Science

Grade 544%

School 44% · district not reported

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

This schoolCharles 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-income10%Higher-income20%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income31%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income13%Higher-income20%8 pp gap