The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in Math. The lowest is 34% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dufief Elementary
DuFief Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Gaithersburg, a large and diverse city in Montgomery County. The school is a regular public elementary school within Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland’s largest school district. For a family considering this school, the academic picture is strongest in the early grades and trends lower by fifth grade, a pattern worth understanding.
On the most recent state assessments, third graders posted the strongest results. In math, roughly three in four third graders met the state’s proficiency bar, and in English language arts about two in three did. By fourth grade, those numbers dropped to just over half in both subjects. By fifth grade, about half of students were proficient in math and exactly half in English language arts. Science, tested only in fifth grade, saw roughly one in three students reach proficiency. These are not uniformly high results across all grades, and a parent may want to discuss with the school how the school supports students in the upper elementary years, where the dip is apparent.
The school is relatively small for its grade band. Its student body is notably diverse. The largest groups are students who identify as Asian and white, each making up roughly three in ten of the school. Students who identify as Black account for just under one in five, Hispanic students about one in eight, and students of two or more races about one in ten. About one in six students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share well below the district average, indicating a generally higher-income student population. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent with a child in either group would want to ask the school directly about those programs and supports.
Gaithersburg itself is a major employment hub, with a mix of historic residential districts like Olde Towne, planned communities, and large corporate and biotech campuses. Major employers include AstraZeneca, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Leidos. The city has a recognized historic downtown and multiple commuter rail stations, though much of the area is auto-oriented along the main commercial corridors. The housing market in the zip code that includes DuFief is expensive, with home values well above national and state medians, and rents similarly elevated. For context, the national median household income is about $84,000; the mortgage and rent figures here suggest a community where many families are in professional and technical fields.
Montgomery County Public Schools has made several district-wide changes that affect DuFief. A new elementary literacy curriculum was adopted starting in the 2023-24 school year, replacing the previous reading program, so students at DuFief are learning under that new framework. The district’s operating budget has continued to grow and accounts for a large share of the county’s spending. The district is also conducting a systemwide boundary analysis as part of its long-term facilities planning, which means attendance zones could change in the future, though no specific changes have been implemented yet for DuFief’s zone.
Compared to other districts in Montgomery County, the available data was too limited to place DuFief against its peers on academic proficiency or other metrics. The school serves grades that are tested, but the comparison tool requires a minimum number of districts in the cohort to compute a position, and that threshold was not met here. What is clear from DuFief’s own results is that early elementary performance is a relative strength, while upper elementary proficiency, particularly in science, is an area a family should investigate further.
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