The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in English language arts. The lowest is 15% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Bollman Bridge Elementary
Bollman Bridge Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Jessup, Maryland, as part of the Howard County Public Schools system. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet program. The school has a large enrollment for an elementary building, spread across all grades from pre-K through fifth.
Jessup itself is not a typical suburban town with a Main Street. It is an unincorporated area in Howard County, defined more by its industrial and institutional infrastructure than by residential neighborhoods. Major warehouses, the Maryland Food Center, state and federal correctional facilities, a psychiatric hospital, and a quarry are all located in or near Jessup. The population has grown substantially in recent decades, and the area is structured around highways like I-95 and U.S. Route 1 rather than walkable streets. A MARC commuter rail stop provides some transit access. Homes in the zip code that serves the school are valued at a level that is above the statewide median for Maryland, making the housing market relatively expensive here. Rents are also high, and the estimated rent-to-income ratio suggests housing costs take up a significant share of monthly income for typical households.
The student body at Bollman Bridge Elementary is diverse across multiple dimensions. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The largest racial or ethnic group is Black students, followed by Hispanic students, then white students, with smaller shares of Asian students and students identifying as two or more races. The data does not include information on the share of students receiving special education services or those who are English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school about those populations directly.
On the Maryland state assessments, Bollman Bridge Elementary’s results show that proficiency rates in English language arts and mathematics were below the state average for each tested grade level. In third grade English language arts, about a third of students scored at or above the proficient level. The rate decreased slightly in fourth grade and again in fifth grade, meaning the highest ELA performance was with the youngest tested students. In mathematics, the pattern was similar: third graders had the highest proficiency rate among the tested grades, with rates declining in fourth and fifth grades. Science results for fifth graders, the only grade tested in that subject, showed a very small share of students reaching proficiency. These figures represent a single year of data, so no trend over time is available.
Because this school only serves elementary grades, there is no high school graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not provided in the available records. The Howard County school district has recently opened a new high school, Guilford Park High School, which shifted attendance boundaries in the county, and the district is operating under a strategic plan that emphasizes early reading proficiency, attendance, and college and career readiness, among other goals. Teacher salaries in the district have risen substantially in recent years, and per-pupil spending has grown as a result.
The school sits within a well-regarded county school system, but its own assessment results are lower than what many families might expect based on the county’s overall reputation. For a parent weighing this school, the academic data points warrant a closer look. The school serves a high-need population in a community with a nontrivial share of families facing economic challenges, and its test results reflect that context. A parent may want to learn more about the school’s specific instructional supports, how it addresses literacy and math skill gaps, and what programs are in place for its English learners and students with disabilities, as those data points were not available here. The housing market in Jessup is expensive relative to Maryland as a whole, but the school itself offers a diverse, large elementary environment within a district that has made recent investments in teacher pay and new facilities.
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