The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Washington Grove Elementary
Washington Grove Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in Gaithersburg within Montgomery County Public Schools. The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with Black students as the next largest group, followed by White, Asian, and a small share of multiracial students. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which places the school in a context where a substantial share of families face economic pressures.
On the Maryland state assessments, known as MCAP for math and English language arts and MISA for science, the school’s proficiency rates are below the averages typical for Montgomery County, a district with many high-performing schools statewide. In third-grade math, about a third of students scored proficient or above. That figure fell to roughly a quarter in fourth grade and a fifth in fifth grade. In English language arts, the pattern was more consistent across the grades, with just over a third of students reaching proficiency in third, fourth, and fifth grades. Fifth-grade science results showed about a fifth of students meeting the bar. These are soft spots a parent will want to understand more deeply, and asking the school about its approach to intervention, particularly in math where the decline from third to fifth grade is noticeable, would be a natural next step. The district recently adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum, which may eventually shift the English results, but the data reflects the prior instruction.
The school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving these grades, with the largest single grade being prekindergarten, followed by kindergarten, and then roughly even numbers in first through fifth grades. This suggests a Pre-K program that draws in a notable number of families. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Washington Grove Elementary does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate is reported.
Gaithersburg itself is a large, diverse city with a mix of historic neighborhoods, planned communities, and major corporate and biotech campuses. Employers like AstraZeneca, NIST, and Leidos anchor the local economy. The city has a recognized historic downtown in Olde Towne, but schools are distributed across the city rather than clustered in a single area. Walkability varies widely; the Olde Towne district has a traditional grid, while much of the city is built around auto-oriented commercial corridors. Commuter rail and bus service provide some transit options, and the Shady Grove Metro station sits just outside city limits.
Housing in the area is expensive. Home values are above the national median, and rents are high enough that a typical household would spend a significant share of income on housing. The market shows a slight recent decline in home values and a small increase in rents, but the overall cost of entry is steep for many families.
Montgomery County Public Schools is a large, well-funded district that devotes a substantial portion of county spending to education. The district has ongoing boundary analysis work that could eventually affect which schools serve which neighborhoods. For now, Washington Grove Elementary sits within that system, a school where academic proficiency rates are lower than many of its district peers and where a high economic-need population is the norm. A parent considering this school should weigh those academic results against the supports the school offers, the community environment of Gaithersburg, and the broader resources available through the district.
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