The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in English language arts. The lowest is 49% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Urbana Elementary
Urbana Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Frederick, Maryland, as a regular public school within Frederick County Public Schools. The school is located on Urbana Pike, in a stretch of town that blends historic crossroads character with ongoing growth. Frederick itself is the county seat, a city with a historic downtown defined by clustered church spires and Carroll Creek running through it. The area’s largest employer is Fort Detrick, a U.S. Army bioscience and communications installation that also hosts the National Cancer Institute and the National Laboratory for Cancer Research, giving the local economy a strong research and federal-sector anchor. The city has seen a sizable population increase in recent years, and housing values in the school’s zip code are well above both state and national benchmarks, placing the area in a higher-cost market.
The school enrolls a substantial number of students for an elementary building serving pre-K through fifth grade. The student body is diverse: white students represent the largest share, followed by Asian students, Hispanic students, Black students, students of two or more races, and a small number of American Indian or Alaska Native students. A relatively modest share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price meals. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the current profile, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education and language support services.
On state assessments, Urbana Elementary’s performance was strongest in English language arts, where across third, fourth, and fifth grades a solid majority of students met the proficiency benchmark. The third-grade cohort performed particularly well. Math results were also above the midpoint in most grades, with third graders showing a notably high proficiency rate, while fourth and fifth graders posted somewhat lower but still solid results. In fifth-grade science, about half of students met the standard, which is a softer spot relative to the school’s reading and math outcomes. Because no prior-year assessment data was available for comparison, it is not possible to describe a trend direction. A parent interpreting these results should note that the school’s overall proficiency picture is strong in literacy, solid in math, and more mixed in science.
The school is not a charter or magnet, and its status as a Title I school was not reported in the data provided. No information on discipline, staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism, or course access was available in the current profile, so those dimensions of the school environment remain unaddressed here. Because Urbana Elementary serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. When the comparison set was evaluated for positioning relative to districts in Frederick County, the cohort was too small to produce a meaningful benchmark across the county’s districts.
For a family considering this school, the academic picture is one of generally strong proficiency in reading and math, with science representing a question worth exploring further. The student body is economically more advantaged than many schools, and the community is growing, with a well-connected employment base in the bioscience and federal sectors. The street address places the school along a main corridor, and the broader Frederick area offers a historic downtown and a mix of suburban and rural surroundings. A parent may want to follow up on special education services, English learner supports, and the school’s approach to science instruction to complete the picture. The district itself, Frederick County Public Schools, did not have any parent-relevant changes publicly reported in the recent period searched, so there were no major budget shifts, curriculum overhauls, or boundary changes to factor into a decision.
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