The top reported proficiency rate is 28% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hollywood Elementary
Hollywood Elementary is a regular public school in College Park, Maryland, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of Prince George's County Public Schools, one of the larger districts in the state. The school sits within a community that is anything but static: College Park is home to the University of Maryland, a major research institution that anchors the local economy and shapes much of the city’s character. The city has seen sustained investment through the Greater College Park initiative, with new housing, retail, transit upgrades, and a growing business and research district. The Purple Line light rail is under construction, and two Metro stations already serve the area. For families, that means a setting with a young, educated population, a strong job base, and improving walkability, though the cost of housing and renting in the area is above the national benchmark.
Hollywood Elementary enrolls a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller share of Black students, a modest number of White and Asian students, and a very small share of students who identify as two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free and reduced-price meals, indicating a high-poverty school. The district has recently adopted a system-wide literacy initiative aligned with the science of reading, and has increased its operating budget for teacher salaries and student support services. A boundary review was also conducted in 2024 to address overcrowding and facility use, with changes affecting attendance zones for the 2025-2026 school year. These district-level moves suggest an active effort to improve instruction and balance enrollment, though their impact at Hollywood Elementary remains to be seen.
On state assessments, Hollywood Elementary’s proficiency rates are low across all tested subjects and grade levels. In mathematics, the share of students scoring at the proficient level or above is well below what many families would expect. English language arts results are somewhat higher but still modest, and science proficiency is also low. These are the school’s most significant soft spots. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there are no graduation rates, chronic absenteeism data, or college-readiness metrics to consider. The data does not include information on special education or English learner populations, nor does it report on staffing ratios, discipline, or course access, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about support services and class sizes.
The lack of a meaningful peer comparison is another gap. The available comparison set included only one district in Prince George’s County, so it was not possible to position Hollywood Elementary relative to other schools. That means the test results stand on their own, without a local benchmark to help interpret them. The school is not a charter or magnet, and no special program offerings were reported in the data, so the academic pathway is the standard elementary curriculum delivered by the district.
The housing market in the area is expensive relative to national averages, with home values and rents that have been rising. College Park’s profile as a university town means many families who live there are connected to the university or to the growing tech and federal employer base in the Discovery District. For a family considering Hollywood Elementary, the key questions are about academic support. The low proficiency rates suggest that a child who is already performing at or above grade level may not find the same depth of instruction as in a higher-performing school, while a child who needs extra help may benefit from the district’s new literacy focus and any targeted interventions the school provides. The school’s size, grade band, and community context are straightforward; the academic challenge is the central factor a parent would want to investigate further, ideally by visiting the school, talking to the principal, and understanding what supplemental programs or tutoring are available.
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