Original Research by School Decision on Rosemary Hills Elementary
Rosemary Hills Elementary is a regular public school in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, serving prekindergarten through second grade. Because the school serves only early primary grades, it does not participate in the state testing program, and no academic performance data, graduation rate, or chronic absenteeism figures are available. The absence of these metrics is a direct consequence of the grade band and is not a reflection on the school’s quality. A parent evaluating academic outcomes will need to look to the school’s receiving upper-elementary school for later test results.
The school enrolls a diverse student body. The largest group of students is white, followed by Black students, a substantial share of Hispanic students, and a smaller number of Asian students and students of two or more races. A significant portion of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-price meals. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners were not available, so a parent should ask the school directly about its special education and English-language support resources.
Rosemary Hills sits in Silver Spring, an unincorporated edge city bordering Washington, D.C., and the fifth-most-populous place in Maryland. The downtown core, a short distance from the school, is an urbanized, walkable area anchored by the Paul Sarbanes Transit Center, which connects the community to the Metro Red Line, MARC Train, and bus routes. A substantial Purple Line light-rail project is under construction and expected to open in the near future. The broader Silver Spring area includes residential neighborhoods inside the Capital Beltway, and the community has a notably high share of foreign-born residents, with large Salvadoran, Ethiopian, Indian, and Chinese communities. Major employers include NOAA, the FDA, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church headquarters. The housing market carries a high price tag, with home values above the state and national medians; rents are also high, and the cost of both renting and purchasing has seen a modest recent decline. The school itself is part of the public school system, not a charter or magnet program, and information on Title I status was unavailable.
The school’s parent district, Montgomery County Public Schools, is one of the largest in the state. It recently adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum, Benchmark Advance and HMH Into Reading, starting with the 2023-24 school year, which will shape how all elementary students in the district learn to read. The district’s operating budget commands a large share of the county budget, reflecting a sustained fiscal commitment to education. MCPS has also been conducting a systemwide boundary analysis as part of long-term facilities planning, meaning school attendance boundaries could change. A family living in the Rosemary Hills attendance zone should be aware that future boundary adjustments may affect which upper-elementary, middle, and high school their child eventually attends.
For a parent, Rosemary Hills is an early-primary environment. The student body is mixed by race and income. The community is dense, transit-rich, and expensive. Because the school serves only through second grade, any assessment of academic performance or long-term student outcomes must be sought at the next school in the feeder pattern. The lack of state test results and graduation data is expected for a school of this grade band and should not be read as a weakness.
See more original research from School Decision →