Robert Goddard Montessori, Seabrook MD

Original Research by School Decision on Robert Goddard Montessori

Robert Goddard Montessori is a public school in Seabrook serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade under a Montessori instructional model. It sits within Prince George's County Public Schools, a large district that in recent years has approved notable budget increases, adopted a districtwide literacy initiative grounded in the science of reading, and conducted a boundary review to address overcrowding. These district-level shifts may affect staffing, curriculum, and eventual school assignment boundaries for families in the area.

The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet status listed. State testing data from a recent cycle offers a mixed picture. In English language arts, the results are a clear strength across the upper grades. At several grade levels a large majority of students met proficiency, with the strongest performance coming at sixth and eighth grades, where the share proficient reached very high levels. Earlier elementary grades posted strong figures as well, including third and fourth grade, though those results were reported as ranges rather than exact percentages. In math, the picture is more uneven. Middle elementary grades showed modest proficiency that climbed somewhat by fifth grade, but the upper middle school years dropped off notably. Seventh and eighth grade math proficiency was lower, with eighth grade showing the weakest result on record. Science performance was stronger at eighth grade than at fifth, and social studies at eighth grade was reported in a range that suggests a solid majority of students met the bar.

Mathematics is an area a parent may want to inquire about further with the school, especially for the oldest students. Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. The school does not serve high school grades, so that measure does not apply.

The student body is diverse. The largest group is Black students, followed by white students, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a moderate range for economic need. The student population is a medium-to-small size for a school that spans pre-K through eighth grade.

Seabrook itself is a primarily residential community that grew around the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which sits just north of the area. Much of the housing stock dates to the 1950s, built for Goddard employees. The community is laid out in a grid pattern near the railroad line, with commercial activity concentrated along the main roads. There is no traditional downtown; the original commercial center near the train station is no longer standing. The Seabrook MARC station provides commuter rail access into Washington, D.C. The population grew through the mid-century expansion and has shown signs of flattening in more recent estimates. Zoned neighborhood schools in the broader area include a mix of elementary, middle, and high schools, though Robert Goddard Montessori draws its own student body as a school of choice. Housing values in the area run roughly at or a bit above the national benchmark, and rents are similarly positioned, all factors families will weigh with their own budget.

The overall proficiency picture across tested subjects and grades places Robert Goddard Montessori in a position that is not directly comparable to other Prince George's County schools through the usual district-level comparison sets because the cohort was too small to generate a meaningful index. What the available data shows is a school with real strengths in literacy through the middle grades, a wider variation in math that tilts weaker in the upper years, and a student body that is economically and racially diverse. A family considering this school should have a clear conversation with the administration about math support and intervention, especially for students entering the middle school years. The Montessori approach itself is a pedagogical choice that will appeal to some and not to others, and that fit is as important as the test results.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · district not reported

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 730%

School 30% · district not reported

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 813%

School 13% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 565%

School 65% · district not reported

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 691%

School 91% · district not reported

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 783%

School 83% · district not reported

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 890%

School 90% · district not reported

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · district not reported

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · district not reported

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 49 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 3Lower-income25%Higher-income47%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income40%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income29%9 pp gap