The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in English language arts. The lowest is 44% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Burleigh Manor Middle
Burleigh Manor Middle is a regular public school in Ellicott City, Maryland, serving grades six through eight as part of the Howard County Public Schools system. The school sits in a community that is both a historic county seat and a sprawling suburban bedroom of the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Ellicott City has a dense, walkable historic core along Main Street, but the vast majority of the census-designated place, including the area immediately around the school, is made up of suburban residential neighborhoods connected by roads rather than sidewalks. The area is dominated by single-family homes, and the housing market reflects that, with prices that are well above both the state and national benchmarks. Rents are also elevated, making this a comparatively expensive place to live.
The student body is large and notably diverse in terms of race and ethnicity, with a significant share of students identifying as Asian and a substantial share as white, followed by smaller populations of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A relatively modest portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the majority of families are not low-income. Data on special education identification and English learner status was not provided.
Academically, Burleigh Manor Middle presents a profile with clear strengths and some areas that invite a closer look. In English language arts, students consistently perform at a high level across all three grade levels, with well over three-quarters of students meeting the state's proficiency standard. This is a genuine strength and suggests strong instruction and support in reading and writing. In social studies, the performance of eighth graders is also solid, with a strong majority meeting the proficiency bar. In science, eighth graders perform moderately well.
The picture in mathematics is more mixed. On the grade-level math assessments, the share of students scoring proficient or above is notably lower than in English language arts, falling below a majority in seventh and eighth grade. This gap between strong English performance and weaker math results is a common pattern in many schools, but the margin here is wide, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what supports are in place for students who are not yet at that level in math. However, it is also worth noting that the school offers advanced math courses. In Algebra 1 and Geometry, the students who take those assessments perform at very high levels, suggesting that students on an accelerated math track are excelling.
The district itself, Howard County Public Schools, has been in a period of change. A new high school opened recently, which has shifted attendance boundaries and feeder patterns for families in part of the county. The district has also implemented a strategic plan with specific academic focus areas, including middle school mathematics proficiency. Teacher salaries and the district's per-pupil spending have risen notably over the last several years, a trend that carries implications for the county budget and, by extension, local property taxes.
Because Burleigh Manor Middle does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report here. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available. The school does not have a charter or magnet status and no Title I designation was provided. The available testing data is from a single academic year, so there is no multi-year trend to discuss other than a single snapshot.
This is a school where a student will find a large peer group in a well-off suburban setting, a strong English language arts program, and high-level math options for those who qualify. The core math instruction on grade-level assessments is a relative soft spot, and a family for whom math attainment is a top priority would want to understand the school's approach to addressing that gap. The broader Ellicott City context includes an active flood mitigation project in the historic downtown, but the residential neighborhoods around the school are stable suburban development. The cost of housing makes this a high-barrier community to enter.
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