Gwynn Park Middle, Brandywine MD

Original Research by School Decision on Gwynn Park Middle

Gwynn Park Middle serves sixth through eighth grade in Brandywine, an unincorporated community in the rural tier of Prince George’s County. Brandywine was mostly rural until the early 2000s, when big-box shopping centers and residential subdivisions began to appear. The community has grown fast, and it remains car-dependent, with no traditional downtown. Traffic on the highway corridor where Maryland Route 5 and U.S. Route 301 merge is a long-standing local frustration. Gwynn Park Middle, along with the elementary and high schools that share the Gwynn Park name, serves the residential areas of the CDP. The school sits away from the commercial strip, in a setting that is still more rural than suburban.

The student body is predominantly Black, with a much smaller share of Hispanic students and very small numbers of white, Asian, and multiracial students. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating that a majority of families face economic pressures. The school is a regular public school, and it is not a charter or magnet. The data does not report whether it is a Title I school, so it is unclear if it receives federal funds targeting high-poverty schools.

On state assessments, the school’s results present a clear pattern. In English language arts, about one-third of students met the proficiency bar in each of the three middle grades, a share that is moderate for a school serving a high-need population. Math results are much lower: proficiency rates in sixth and seventh grade were in the single digits, and in eighth grade the rate was very low. Science results for eighth graders, from the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment, were also low. Social studies proficiency for eighth graders was at about one in five. Across all subjects, math stands out as an area where most students are not reaching grade-level benchmarks. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school what math intervention and support programs are in place.

Because this is a middle school serving only grades six through eight, there is no graduation rate to report. The comparison data that would position this school relative to other Prince George’s County middle schools could not be generated because the cohort of comparable district-level entities was too small for a meaningful comparison.

The district these families are part of, Prince George's County Public Schools, has approved a budget increase in a recent fiscal year that directs more funding to teacher salaries and student support services. The district also implemented a reading initiative adopting a science-of-reading curriculum, and it has conducted a boundary review that could reassign some students for the following school year. These are district-level changes that may eventually affect Gwynn Park Middle, though the timing and specifics for this school were not detailed.

Housing in the Brandywine area carries a value above the state median, and rents are also elevated. Monthly mortgage costs, after a typical down payment, are high, and rent consumes a substantial share of local income. These conditions, combined with the school’s academic challenges, mean that families choosing Brandywine for lower housing costs relative to closer-in suburbs are still facing a significant financial stretch. The area continues to add new townhouse developments, so the neighborhood around the school is evolving.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 64%

School 4% · district not reported

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

Grade 711%

School 11% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 81%

School 1% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 640%

School 40% · district not reported

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

Grade 737%

School 37% · district not reported

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · district not reported

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 814%

School 14% · district not reported

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

Social studies

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▲ 1 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-income53%Higher-income47%6 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income17%Higher-income20%3 pp gap