The top reported proficiency rate is 18% in English language arts. The lowest is 2% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ridgecrest Elementary
Ridgecrest Elementary sits in Hyattsville, an urban suburb of Washington, D.C., that has seen substantial redevelopment over the past couple of decades, particularly around the Arts District and the Hyattsville Crossing Metro area. The city promotes itself as walkable, with a historic grid-street neighborhood, trails, and bike-share stations, though the school itself draws from a broader area of the city. The housing market in the school’s zip code shows home values around the midpoint between the state and national benchmarks, with rents that have risen recently relative to incomes, consistent with a commuter-heavy market near the capital.
Ridgecrest is a regular public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, part of Prince George’s County Public Schools, the county’s sole school district. The school’s enrollment is large for an elementary school, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of students who are Black and a very small number of Asian and white students. A very large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the income profile of the surrounding area. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records reviewed.
The district itself has taken steps that affect Ridgecrest families. It approved a budget increase for teacher salaries and student support services, adopted a new evidence-based reading curriculum aligned with the science of reading starting in the 2023-2024 school year, and conducted a boundary review in 2024 with proposed changes for the 2025-2026 school year that could shift attendance zones for some families. These are lasting, parent-relevant changes.
On the most recently available state assessments, Ridgecrest’s proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science are low, with wide gaps from statewide averages. In math, less than a fifth of students scored proficient or above at each tested grade level. In English language arts, the share proficient was roughly one in four in fourth grade, and lower in third and fifth grades. Science proficiency, tested in fifth grade only, was very low. These results suggest that the school serves a high-need student population and that academic mastery, as measured by the state test, is an area of serious challenge. A parent considering Ridgecrest will want to discuss with the school how it addresses these outcomes, what academic interventions and supports are in place, and how the new district literacy initiative is being implemented at the school level.
Because the comparison set for this school is too small to place it among its county peers, the data does not allow a relative ranking within Prince George’s County. The school’s academic environment is defined by its own numbers, not by comparison to nearby schools.
Ridgecrest does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate data applies. The school also had no available information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, or course access in the records provided. Families looking for that context will need to contact the school or the district directly. The locale brief shows that Hyattsville’s public schools include Hyattsville Elementary, Hyattsville Middle, and Northwestern High, so Ridgecrest feeds into those later schools, but this narrative draws on Ridgecrest’s own data only.
The school’s academic proficiency numbers are its clearest signal. For a family weighing this school, the primary considerations are the student support context, the district’s ongoing curriculum and boundary initiatives, and whether the school’s current academic profile aligns with their expectations for elementary achievement.
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