Briggs Chaney Middle, Silver Spring MD

Original Research by School Decision on Briggs Chaney Middle

Briggs Chaney Middle is a regular public school in Silver Spring, Maryland, serving grades six through eight as part of Montgomery County Public Schools, one of the largest and most well-funded districts in the state. The student body is large for a middle school and highly diverse, with a majority Black student population, a substantial Hispanic enrollment, a smaller Asian share, and a relatively small number of white students. More than half of the students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a marker of the school's socioeconomic profile that is important to keep in mind when looking at the academic results below.

On state assessments, the picture is mixed and reveals real challenges in math. In the most recent testing year, the share of students scoring proficient or above in math was very low across all three grades, and markedly so, with the rate dropping as students moved through the grades. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was higher, with roughly two in five students reaching the bar in sixth and eighth grades, and closer to half in seventh grade, which is a modest showing. In science and social studies, where testing occurs in grade eight, just over a fifth of students achieved proficiency in science, and just under two in five did in social studies. For a family considering this school, the math results in particular warrant a direct conversation with the school about what interventions and supports are in place.

The school sits within Montgomery County, a district that adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum in recent years and operates on a substantial annual budget that makes up a large share of the county's spending. The district has also been conducting a systemwide boundary analysis, which could eventually affect attendance areas, so families should stay aware of that process. Silver Spring itself is an unincorporated edge city of Washington, D.C., with a dense, walkable downtown core anchored by the Paul Sarbanes Transit Center and a long history of redevelopment. The area is exceptionally diverse, with large foreign-born populations from El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, and China. The housing market is expensive relative to national benchmarks, and rents are high, reflecting the broader Washington metro area's cost of living.

Briggs Chaney Middle is not a magnet or charter school; it is a traditional public school serving its neighborhood attendance zone. Its academic performance, particularly in mathematics, is well below where many families would hope to see, and the school's overall proficiency rates in reading are modest. There is no available data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or course access, and no state-provided graduation rate to report because the school ends at grade eight. A parent considering this school would want to ask about the specific math instruction and intervention strategies being used, and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks. This is a school where the community context and district resources are strong, but the academic outcomes on state tests indicate that the school has significant ground to cover in bringing more students to proficiency.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 616%

School 16% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 76%

School 6% · district not reported

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 83%

School 3% · district not reported

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 642%

School 42% · district not reported

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 749%

School 49% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 839%

School 39% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 822%

School 22% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 50% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolMontgomery County Public Schools, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income38%Higher-income55%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income12%Higher-income29%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income28%Higher-income35%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income11%Higher-income28%17 pp gap