The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Laurel Woods Elementary
Laurel Woods Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the city of Laurel, within the Howard County Public Schools system. As a regular public school that is not a charter or magnet, it draws its attendance zone from a largely residential part of the county. Laurel itself was founded as a mill town on the Patuxent River and later became an early commuter hub for Washington, D.C. and Baltimore after the arrival of the railroad. Today it retains a historic Main Street district and a mix of older neighborhoods and postwar suburban development, with a MARC train station providing rail access to both major cities.
The school enrolls roughly 600 students, making it a mid-sized elementary school for its grade band. The student body is diverse. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. In terms of racial and ethnic composition, the largest group is Black students, followed by Hispanic students, with smaller shares of Asian, white, and multiracial students.
State testing results from the 2024-25 school year are available for three grade levels in math and English language arts, as well as for fifth-grade science. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above declined across the tested grades, with the highest rate in third grade and the lowest in fifth grade. English language arts proficiency rates were higher than math across all three grades, though they also tended downward from third to fifth grade. Third-grade ELA results were reported as a range rather than a single figure. Science proficiency in fifth grade was low, with a small share of students meeting the bar. The data represents a single year, so no trend line is available to assess whether these results are an improvement or a decline from prior years. A parent may want to ask the school about its approach to math and science instruction, as the proficiency rates in those subjects were soft.
Because Laurel Woods is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate, no course access data for advanced or career pathways, and no chronic absenteeism or discipline data in the available records. The comparison data, which would position this school against other elementary schools in Howard County, could not be computed because there was only one district-level observation in the set.
The housing market in the school's ZIP code reflects a high cost of entry. A typical home value is well above the national median, and monthly mortgage payments are steep relative to the typical rent, which itself consumes a large share of median household income. This combination points to an area where renting is more accessible than buying, though both are expensive. Families considering the school should weigh the cost of housing against the alternatives in surrounding communities.
The district that operates Laurel Woods, Howard County Public Schools, has seen notable changes in recent years. A new high school opened in 2023, which shifted some attendance boundaries and may affect future feeder patterns for this elementary school. The district has also adopted a strategic plan with explicit focus areas, including reading proficiency by third grade and middle school math achievement, and has increased starting teacher salaries substantially, contributing to a growing per-pupil budget. These district-level priorities and financial commitments may influence the resources and programs available at Laurel Woods, though the school's own performance data suggests there is ground to cover, particularly in mathematics and science.
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