The top reported proficiency rate is 29% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on William Paca Elementary
William Paca Elementary is a regular public school in Landover, part of Prince George’s County Public Schools, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The school sits in a community of small subdivisions, industrial parks, and highway corridors, an auto-oriented suburban stretch east of Washington, D.C. A large share of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a marker that the school serves a population with considerable economic need.
The student body is diverse. Families will find that Black and Hispanic students together make up the large majority, with a smaller but present Asian population, a modest number of white students, and a very small group of American Indian or Alaska Native students. It is a school of moderate, neighborhood-anchored size for an elementary school, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across grades kindergarten through four, a slightly smaller fifth-grade cohort, and a pre-kindergarten program.
State testing data from the most recent school year shows a pattern of low proficiency rates. In English language arts, third and fourth graders scored in a range that challenges the gate of proficiency, while fifth graders performed notably lower. Math outcomes followed a similar trajectory, with third and fourth graders at a comparable level to their ELA results, but fifth grade math was very low. Science testing at fifth grade, which uses Maryland’s MISA assessment, returned a particularly thin share of students meeting the proficiency bar. A parent looking at these results may want to discuss with the school what supports and interventions are in place, especially for upper elementary students, because the trajectory from fourth grade to fifth grade in both math and ELA shows a steep drop.
The district does provide context for why academic numbers sit where they do. Prince George’s County Public Schools has implemented a district-wide literacy initiative tied to the science of reading, a curriculum shift that affects how all elementary students are taught. That initiative was adopted in a recent school year, so its effects may not yet be fully visible in the testing data on hand. The district also completed a boundary review to address overcrowding, which could reassign attendance zones in the near future.
Civic and commercial life in Landover offers some anchors: the Landover and Morgan Boulevard Metro stations, the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex, Giant Food’s headquarters, and Northwest Stadium. The former Landover Mall site sits largely cleared, and county planning efforts for that area are ongoing. Housing in the zip code is priced below the state median, and rents have been rising at a modest pace. The area has a mix of owner-occupied and rental homes, with an unemployment rate near the national average.
No data was reported on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, or attendance, which limits how fully a family can judge the day-to-day environment. The school does not have a charter or magnet designation, and its Title I status was not provided. William Paca Elementary is a school where a parent will want to engage directly with staff to understand how the classroom experience matches the test results, and where the district’s recent literacy push may be a factor worth tracking over the next several years.
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