The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Potomac Heights Elementary
Potomac Heights Elementary serves students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in Hagerstown, part of Washington County Public Schools. The school sits on the eastern side of the city near the intersection of East Magnolia Avenue and Cannon Avenue, within a neighborhood of older single-family homes and apartment buildings that transitions into more commercial stretches as you move west toward downtown.
Hagerstown itself functions as the commercial and industrial center for a tri-state area that includes western Maryland, south-central Pennsylvania, and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. It is a city with a walkable historic downtown core, an arts district, and a cultural trail connecting parks and museums, though the broader city is laid out for driving, shaped by the intersection of Interstates 81 and 70. The metropolitan area has been one of the fastest-growing in the state, a fact that appears to be driving school capacity pressures and the redistricting the district recently approved.
Washington County Public Schools is in the early years of implementing the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, the state’s major education reform law. The district has added pre-kindergarten classrooms, raised teacher salaries, and expanded career and technology programs at its technical high school. It also approved an elementary school redistricting plan that took effect for the 2025-2026 school year, redrawing attendance boundaries primarily in the Hagerstown area to address imbalances between over-enrolled and under-enrolled buildings. A voter-approved construction bond is funding a new elementary school and renovations at several buildings across the county. These changes bear directly on which school a child attends and what facilities and programs that school offers, so a family shopping for a home in this area will want to confirm Potomac Heights’ current attendance boundaries and any plans for future shifts.
The student body is diverse. The largest group is white students, followed by Black students, Hispanic students, and students who identify as two or more races. Asian students make up a smaller share. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which is a marker of the economic mix of the families the school serves. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source material, so a family with a child who has an Individualized Education Program or is learning English should check directly with the school about what supports are in place.
On state assessments, results vary notably by grade and subject. In third-grade reading, a strong majority of students met the proficiency standard, a solid showing for an early-grade cohort. Fourth- and fifth-grade reading results were lower, with roughly half or fewer students reaching proficiency, suggesting that the transition through the upper elementary grades is an area a parent may want to discuss with the school. In math, third graders had a moderate proficiency rate, while fourth and fifth graders saw a clear drop, with about a third of students meeting the standard. Science results for fifth graders were lower still, with a share of students below that mark. These are single-year results, and the available data does not include a trend line from prior years, so it is not possible to say whether these levels represent a shift or a pattern. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports students who are not yet meeting benchmarks in the upper grades and what specific interventions are in place for math and science.
The school is an elementary-only building, so there is no graduation rate to report and no secondary-level course offerings such as Advanced Placement or dual enrollment. Program offerings data was not provided in the source material, so a family looking for enrichment, music, arts, or special programs should follow up with the school directly for the full picture.
The comparison set that would place this school relative to other elementary schools in Washington County was too small to generate a meaningful position, so no local benchmarking is available from the source.
For a family considering Potomac Heights Elementary, the key takeaway is that this is an elementary school in a growing metro area where the district is actively reshaping boundaries and facilities. The academic picture is mixed, with a clear strength in early literacy and more challenge in upper-grade math and science. The school serves a diverse and economically varied population. Given the redistricting and construction plans, confirming the current attendance zone and any upcoming changes is the first step. From there, a visit and a conversation about how the school approaches the transition between primary and intermediate grades would give a clearer sense of fit.
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