The top reported proficiency rate is 21% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Tayac Elementary
Tayac Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Fort Washington area of Prince George’s County, Maryland. It is part of the Prince George’s County Public Schools district, a large countywide system. The school is located in a primarily residential, unincorporated suburban community along the Potomac River, about a substantial commute south of downtown Washington, D.C. Homes in the area are valued at a high level consistent with an affluent suburb, though housing prices have seen a modest pullback recently while rents have risen noticeably. The median travel time to work for residents is a long one, reinforcing the area’s identity as a car-dependent bedroom community with limited local employment.
The student body at Tayac is composed of roughly two equal demographic groups, Black and Hispanic students, with a small share of white students and students identifying with other races or multiple races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting a community where household income data can vary across different census sources. The school serves a bit more than three hundred students, a small enrollment for a school spanning early childhood through fifth grade.
State testing results on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, administered in the 2024-2025 school year, show that the share of students scoring at or above the proficient level is low across all tested subjects and grades. In English language arts, the rate of proficiency for third graders was below a quarter, and for fourth and fifth graders it fell near a quarter. In mathematics, the pattern is more concerning: third-grade proficiency was around a sixth, fourth-grade proficiency was a small fraction, and fifth-grade proficiency was similarly small. On the fifth-grade state science assessment, around a tenth of students reached proficiency. These are weak numbers. A parent considering this school should look into what academic supports and interventions are in place. Because this is a single year of testing data, there is no trend to examine yet.
The district that operates Tayac has taken several recent actions that may matter to families. It approved a budget increase directed toward teacher salaries and student support services. It also adopted a district-wide literacy initiative aligned with the science of reading, a curriculum shift that affects how early literacy is taught in all elementary schools. Additionally, a boundary review to address overcrowding and facility use has been conducted, with proposed changes for a coming school year that could affect which school a child is assigned to attend. These are publicly reported district-level changes, and families living in Fort Washington may want to see how any boundary adjustments influence Tayac’s attendance zone.
The school environment details are limited. Data on discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance were not available in the information provided. There is also no civil rights data to review. Because Tayac is a regular public school and not an alternative or special-purpose school, the absence of this information is a gap a parent would want to fill by asking the school or district directly.
For a family deciding between schools, Tayac sits in a suburban setting with a stable, mature housing stock and a long commute pattern. The peer environment is primarily Black and Hispanic with a high share of students from lower-income households. The test results are low, and the school’s programs and supports are not detailed in the available data. A family would want to visit the school, ask about academic intervention strategies, and understand what the district’s literacy initiative looks like in practice in Tayac’s classrooms.
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