Patterson Mill Middle School, Bel Air MD

Original Research by School Decision on Patterson Mill Middle School

Patterson Mill Middle School is a regular public school serving grades six through eight in Bel Air, Maryland, as part of Harford County Public Schools. The school sits on Patterson Mill Road, just outside the downtown core of Bel Air, a town that functions as the county seat and the institutional center for government, health care, and commerce in Harford County. The school’s enrollment is mid-sized for a middle school, and the student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. About a fifth of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share that places the school in a relatively lower-poverty context compared to many Maryland middle schools.

Academically, Patterson Mill’s strongest area is English language arts. On the state’s MCAP assessments, a strong majority of students scored proficient or above in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade reading and writing. The share was highest in sixth grade and remained solid through the upper grades. In math, the picture is very different. Across all three grades, less than a third of students met the proficiency bar, and the results declined steadily as students moved from sixth to eighth grade. The overall math proficiency rate across the school was markedly lower than the ELA rate. Eighth graders also take state science and social studies assessments. On the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA), results fell in a moderate range. Social studies results were stronger, with roughly six in ten eighth graders scoring proficient. The school also offers advanced math courses: a modest share of students taking Algebra I or Geometry met proficiency standards. Because only one year of test data was available, no trend can be reported.

Bel Air provides the context for families considering this school. The town has a historic downtown corridor with locally owned shops, dining, and public art. It is one of Maryland’s designated arts and entertainment districts, and the Ma & Pa Trail offers a walking and biking route through the area. Major employers include the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and county and state government. Housing in the area is relatively expensive compared to national medians, and rents have been rising moderately. The town has seen steady long-term growth, and development continues through the town’s planning process.

For families inside the district, two parent-relevant changes stand out. Homestead-Wakefield Elementary School in Bel Air is being rebuilt as a single-building campus, a capital project that affects elementary attendance patterns. And beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, a state-mandated law called Keep Students In Class (KSIC) is changing how absences and disciplinary actions are handled across all Maryland districts, including Harford County. No other major district-level initiatives or referendums were publicly reported.

Overall, Patterson Mill Middle School offers a setting where English arts instruction is a clear strength and math performance is a soft spot that a parent may want to look into further with the school. The school serves a primarily white, relatively low-poverty population in a growing suburban town with a historic downtown and a range of local amenities. The available academic data is limited to a single year, so a family may wish to ask the school about trends and specific support programs in mathematics.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 629%

School 29% · district not reported

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 717%

School 17% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 812%

School 12% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 676%

School 76% · district not reported

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

Grade 770%

School 70% · district not reported

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 862%

School 62% · district not reported

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 43% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

This schoolHarford 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 6Lower-income44%Higher-income78%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income12%Higher-income41%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income21%Higher-income44%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income32%12 pp gap