The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cannon Road Elementary
Cannon Road Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Silver Spring, part of Montgomery County Public Schools, one of the largest and most well-funded school districts in Maryland. The school sits in a densely populated, diverse edge city just north of Washington, D.C., an area shaped by downtown redevelopment, a major transit hub, and a mix of older residential neighborhoods inside the Capital Beltway.
The student body of roughly four hundred is notably diverse. Children who identify as Hispanic make up the largest share, followed closely by Black students, with smaller groups of Asian, white, and multiracial students. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating that a significant portion of families face economic challenges. The school does not report data on special education or English learner populations, so those dimensions are not available to describe.
The state test results from the most recent school year are the only academic data available, so no trend can be established. In mathematics, proficiency rates across grades three, four, and five fall below a quarter of tested students. In English language arts, performance varies more by grade. In grade three, the reported rate is in the range of roughly thirty to thirty-five percent. Grade four shows about thirty percent proficient, and grade five shows a higher rate, approaching half of students. Fifth-graders also take the state science assessment, where proficiency is below a fifth of students. These figures point to a school where the majority of students are not reaching the proficient level on state assessments, a pattern parents may want to discuss with the school to understand the instructional supports and interventions in place.
The school is part of a district that has recently adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum, replacing the previous reading program. This change affects how all elementary students learn to read and could influence future test results. The district also continues a systemwide boundary analysis as part of long-term facilities planning, which may eventually reassign some students to different schools. The district’s operating budget takes up a large share of county spending, reflecting a sustained financial commitment that shapes property tax burdens and resources for schools.
Silver Spring itself offers an urbanized, walkable downtown with the Paul Sarbanes Transit Center serving Metro, MARC, and bus lines, and the Purple Line light rail is under construction, expected to open in late 2027. Parks along four creek valleys provide hiking trails, playgrounds, and weekend road closures for biking. Major employers in the area include NOAA and the FDA, and the population is heavily foreign-born, with large Salvadoran, Ethiopian, Indian, and Chinese communities.
The school does not have publicly reported data on programs such as gifted education, arts, or after-school offerings. A parent considering Cannon Road Elementary would want to visit, ask about the school’s approach to math and reading instruction, and understand how the building supports students who are currently below proficiency. The community context is one of high housing costs relative to incomes, with home values in the zip code averaging close to six hundred thousand dollars and monthly rents approaching two thousand dollars, figures that underscore the area’s overall cost of living.
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