The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Swan Creek School
Swan Creek School is a regular public school in Aberdeen, Maryland, serving students from second grade through twelfth grade under the Harford County Public Schools system. Its grade configuration is highly unusual within this district, spanning what are typically four separate school levels across a single campus. The school reports an overall population that is large when counted across its entire span, though in practice each grade contains a modest cohort of students. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Black population, a smaller Hispanic presence, and a mix of students identifying as two or more races or Asian. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Academically, this school sits in a difficult position. On the state’s MCAP assessments, proficiency rates in mathematics across grades three through eight are very low, with the highest single-grade result coming in at roughly a fifth of students and the lower elementary and middle grades showing single-digit proficiency. In eighth grade, no student reached the proficient level in math. Reading and English language arts scores are stronger, particularly in the elementary and early middle grades, where more than two-fifths of third graders and a majority of fourth and sixth graders met the bar; fifth grade and eighth grade reading performance falls notably below those levels. Science results are also low, with fifth grade showing a very small share of students proficient and eighth grade science at roughly a fifth. Social studies proficiency in eighth grade sits near a third. The data covers a single school year, so there is no trend to compare against, and the district-level comparison set within Harford County was too small to produce a proficiency index for this school relative to others. A parent looking at these numbers will see clear challenges in math and science across the upper elementary and middle grades.
The school itself is located on Paradise Road in Aberdeen, a city shaped heavily by the presence of Aberdeen Proving Ground, the massive U.S. Army installation that serves as the largest employer in Harford County. Aberdeen has a downtown core with a train station serving Amtrak and MARC commuter rail, a festival park, and a mix of residential neighborhoods. The city has been growing quickly in recent years, and housing values in the surrounding zip code are modestly priced relative to the state median, with rents that are high enough to make buying more economical than renting at current mortgage rates. The city’s economic base includes both the military installation and a cluster of distribution and logistics operations drawn by the interstate and rail access.
The school’s grade span means it does not have a traditional high school graduation rate in the data, because it is not a standalone high school, and the available data does not include a graduation metric for a school of this configuration. A parent should confirm what diploma pathway is available for upper-grade students here and how the school functions in relation to the district’s comprehensive high schools for eleventh and twelfth grade coursework and credits. The district itself, Harford County Public Schools, is undertaking a capital project to rebuild Homestead-Wakefield Elementary in Bel Air as a single-building campus, and all Maryland schools including this one are operating under a new state law that changed attendance and behavioral expectations beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.
This school presents a specific and narrow fit. For a family whose priority is a single-site setting that keeps a student in one building from elementary through the end of high school, Swan Creek offers that structure. For a family looking at math and science outcomes, the assessment data is sobering and worth a direct conversation with the school about instruction, interventions, and how the upper grades prepare students for postsecondary work. The building’s unusual configuration and the economic context of Aberdeen, with its military and logistics employment base, are the facts a family should weigh against the academic picture the state test results paint.
See more original research from School Decision →