The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in English language arts. The lowest is 35% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Greenbrier Elementary
Greenbrier Elementary is a regular public school in Boonsboro, Maryland, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It sits within Washington County Public Schools, a district that covers a mix of small towns and rural areas in the western part of the state. The school itself is located off San Mar Road, just outside Boonsboro’s compact Main Street core, and its grade band means it feeds into a middle and high school elsewhere in the district.
Academically, the most recent state assessment results show a mixed picture that parents will want to examine closely. In English language arts, Greenbrier’s students post solid proficiency rates across grades three, four, and five, with the majority meeting or exceeding the state’s performance standard. Math results are more uneven. Third and fourth graders achieve at a moderate level, while fifth graders show a noticeably lower share reaching proficiency. Science, tested in fifth grade only, also comes in below the ELA outcomes. These figures represent a single year of data, so there is no trend line to indicate whether performance is improving or slipping. The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. A parent looking to understand how a child would fare here might want to ask the school directly about its instructional strategies in math and science, and how it supports students who are not yet meeting benchmarks.
The student body is small and predominantly White, with a notable Hispanic presence and smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Roughly two in five students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a rate that signals a substantial segment of families with lower incomes but does not reach the level of a high-poverty school. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not reported in the available records, a gap that could be important for families whose children receive those services; checking with the school directly would be wise.
Boonsboro itself is a slow-growing rural town at the foot of South Mountain, with a historic Main Street anchored by an inn, a bookstore, and a handful of local shops. The town has gained some national attention for its connection to novelist Nora Roberts, who has invested in downtown properties. Housing values in the area are modestly below the statewide norm, making it a relatively accessible market for families, though the town’s size limits rental options and new construction has been modest. The commute to Hagerstown or Frederick is road-based, with no public transit.
Across the district, Washington County Public Schools is in the early stages of implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a state reform that is expanding prekindergarten classrooms, raising teacher salaries, and adding career technology programs at the technical high school. These changes may gradually affect Greenbrier’s staff stability and early childhood offerings. The district recently approved a redistricting plan that redrew elementary attendance boundaries, but that effort was concentrated in the Hagerstown area; Greenbrier’s feeder pattern does not appear to be directly affected. A voter-approved construction bond will fund a new elementary school and renovations at existing buildings across the county, which could eventually shift capacity and boundaries in future years.
Greenbrier Elementary provides a typical early childhood and elementary experience in a small-town setting. Its strongest academic showing is in reading at the third- and fourth-grade levels, while math and science are areas where the school’s results are lower than its own ELA performance. For a family weighing this school, the key questions are how the school addresses those weaker subject areas, whether the special population supports match their child’s needs, and whether the rural community and modest housing costs align with their preferences.
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