John Hanson Montessori, Oxon Hill MD

Original Research by School Decision on John Hanson Montessori

John Hanson Montessori is a public school in Oxon Hill that offers a Montessori program from prekindergarten through eighth grade. It is a regular public school within Prince George’s County Public Schools, not a charter or magnet. The Montessori approach, with its emphasis on self-directed learning, mixed-age classrooms, and hands-on materials, shapes the daily experience here. Families choosing this school are selecting that pedagogical model as much as they are selecting a specific building.

The school is located in the former John Hanson Junior High School building, next to the main Oxon Hill post office, and shares the site with the Maya Angelou French Immersion School. Oxon Hill itself is a fundamentally suburban, car-dependent community bisected by the Capital Beltway. Its built environment is a mix of garden apartments, townhouses, and single-family homes built mostly between the 1940s and early 1990s. The area has seen substantial growth driven by the National Harbor mixed-use development on the Potomac River, which includes a major resort and casino, hotel rooms, retail, and office space. That development, along with the community’s proximity to Washington, D.C., shapes the local economy and housing market. The median home value in the zip code is moderate for the region, and rents are consistent with the broader market.

On state assessments, John Hanson Montessori presents a split profile. In English language arts, results are a bright spot. Upper elementary and middle school grades show a notably high share of students meeting or exceeding proficiency. Lower elementary reading scores are more mixed, with one grade falling in the mid-range and another near the low end. In math, the picture is much weaker. Proficiency rates are low across all tested grades, with almost no students reaching the proficient threshold in eighth grade and only modest rates in earlier grades. Science and social studies results, available only for fifth and eighth grades respectively, also fall below what many families would hope to see. A parent considering this school may want to look into how the school supports math and science learning, especially given the Montessori curriculum’s strength in building conceptual understanding through concrete materials.

The student body is small for a PK-8 school, with an enrollment that is predominantly Black, along with smaller populations of Asian, Hispanic, white, and multiracial students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share that is lower than the district average. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate. District-level developments that may matter include a recent literacy initiative adopting a science-of-reading curriculum that affects elementary instruction across Prince George’s County, and a boundary review that could change school assignments for the coming year. Those are worth tracking for any family in the district.

For a family drawn to Montessori education and comfortable with Oxon Hill’s suburban setting, John Hanson offers a clear academic strength in reading while math results are a concern worth discussing with the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 320%

School 20% · district not reported

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 411%

School 11% · district not reported

▼ 16 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 627%

School 27% · district not reported

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 717%

School 17% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 431%

School 31% · district not reported

▼ 14 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 682%

School 82% · district not reported

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 789%

School 89% · district not reported

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 879%

School 79% · district not reported

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Science

Grade 522%

School 22% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

This schoolPrince George's 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-income27%Higher-income68%41 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income9%Higher-income9%0 pp gap