The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Oaklands Elementary
Oaklands Elementary draws its attendance from the Laurel area of Prince George’s County, in a city that grew from a 19th-century mill town into a commuter node between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Laurel still has a historic Main Street, a MARC train station, and a mix of older mill housing near the Patuxent River and postwar suburban neighborhoods spreading outward. It is a solidly residential place, and Oaklands sits on Laurel Bowie Road, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Prince George’s County system.
The school’s student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a large Black population and smaller shares of Asian, white, and multiracial students. A very high share qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a marker of the economic circumstances many families bring with them through the doors. State testing data is available for the most recent school year across math, English language arts, and science. The numbers show that most students are not yet reaching the proficiency bar on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above is low at every tested grade level. English language arts results are somewhat higher, particularly by fifth grade, where a meaningful portion of students meet the standard. Science results follow a similar pattern. There is only one year of testing data available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent a trend or a single snapshot.
The school is a neighborhood elementary, so there is no high school graduation rate to report and no secondary course menu to evaluate. What the academic picture suggests is that Oaklands is a school where many children begin behind grade-level expectations, and the school is working with a student population that experiences significant economic disadvantage. A parent moving into the attendance zone should expect to find a school focused on foundational literacy and numeracy, but with a heavy lift ahead in bringing performance to the midpoint of state averages. The district itself, Prince George’s County Public Schools, has moved toward a science-of-reading curriculum in recent years, and has approved a substantial operating budget increase that includes money for teacher salaries and student supports. The district also completed a boundary review that may affect which elementary a given address feeds into, so a family should confirm the current assignment with the district before making housing decisions.
The housing market in the zip code that serves Oaklands carries a home value around the midpoint of what you find in Maryland overall, with rents roughly in line with the national rent-to-income benchmark. The neighborhood is primarily residential, with Laurel’s historic core a short distance away. For a family whose priority is a school that serves a diverse, high-need population and is situated in a community with its own history and transit connections to two major cities, Oaklands fits that description. The test results are a genuine soft spot, and any parent considering this school will want to understand what additional academic supports the school offers and how the school is working to move proficiency rates upward. The school’s website and direct conversations with the principal would be the natural next step to fill in those details.
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