The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 21% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tuscarora Elementary
Tuscarora Elementary is a regular public school in Frederick, Maryland, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits within the Frederick County Public Schools district, a county that encompasses the city of Frederick and its surrounding suburbs. Frederick itself is a historic crossroads city and county seat, known for its downtown with clustered church spires and a walkable core along Carroll Creek. The city’s largest employer is Fort Detrick, a U.S. Army bioscience and communications research installation that also houses the National Cancer Institute, anchoring a sizable professional workforce. The area has seen noticeable population growth in recent years, and the housing market reflects that pressure: home values and rents in the school’s ZIP code have risen, with the cost of ownership outstripping the typical local income, though renting remains more accessible. The district itself did not have any recently confirmed parent-relevant changes such as boundary shifts or major curriculum updates to report.
Enrollment at Tuscarora Elementary is on the larger side for an elementary school, with students spread across each grade from kindergarten through fifth grade, plus a pre-kindergarten program. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, giving the school a moderately high level of economic diversity. Data on students receiving special education services or English learner supports was not available.
State test results from the most recent year provide a mixed picture. In reading, the school’s third graders showed a strong majority meeting proficiency, while fourth and fifth graders were closer to a simple majority, with performance declining as grade level increased. In math, the pattern was more pronounced: third graders had just over half proficient, fourth graders were well below half, and fifth graders had less than a quarter reaching the bar. The trend across grades suggests that as students move through the elementary years, math achievement becomes a growing challenge. Science, tested only in fifth grade, showed a relatively low share of students meeting proficiency. This pattern of declining performance in the upper grades is something a parent may want to explore with the school, particularly around how the curriculum and interventions support students who are not yet on track in math and science.
Because Tuscarora Elementary serves only early grades, there is no graduation rate or postsecondary readiness data to consider. The school’s type is regular, not a charter or magnet, so there is no specialized admissions process. No information on disciplinary incidents, chronic absenteeism, or staffing ratios was available for this profile.
Compared to other districts in Frederick County, the data available here is too sparse to draw reliable comparisons about overall proficiency, and the school does not have the metrics needed for a ranking context. That means the numbers on this page stand on their own rather than as a position relative to nearby districts.
For a family considering Tuscarora Elementary, the key takeaway is a school with a diverse, midsized enrollment located in a growing city with a strong employment base. Academically, early literacy looks solid, but math proficiency drops notably from third to fifth grade, and science scores in fifth grade are modest. A parent would want to ask how the school identifies and supports students who are falling behind, particularly in upper elementary math, and whether there are enrichment or intervention programs in place. The school does not publish enough detail on special populations or classroom resources to fully assess support for students with disabilities or language needs, so those questions would need to be raised directly with the school. The setting is suburban and connected to a larger county system; the district has not recently announced major shifts that would affect daily operations.
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