1
Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Atholton High this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,540
High
DISTRICT 1,313 · STATE 1,185
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HOWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240042000719
Atholton High
6520 Freetown Rd, Columbia, MD 21044 · (410) 313-7065 · Howard County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL1,540 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 38% of Maryland public high schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Maryland public high schools
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
92 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.7:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
23%
353 students
DISTRICT 29% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 405 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 361 | 23% |
| Grade 11 | 404 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 370 | 24% |
Student demographics
76%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 77% · STATE 73% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MCAP 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 3-4)English Language Arts
76.3%
MD avg 50.6% . +10.1pp since 2023
Math
12.1%
MD avg 34.8% . -0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 76 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 10 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 76.3% | 12.1% |
| 2023-24 | 66.2% | 12.4% |
% Proficient (Levels 3-4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: MCAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
41.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.6%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-18.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 61% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Atholton High
Atholton High's state test result (41.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atholton High this school | 1,540 | 22.9% | 41.8% |
| Reservoir High Fulton | 1,597 | 26.2% | 43.2% |
| Sherwood High Sandy Spring | 1,675 | 22.4% | 46.5% |
| Howard High Ellicott City | 1,493 | 20.2% | 47.5% |
| Urbana High Ijamsville | 1,989 | 16.5% | 66.9% |
| Richard Montgomery High Rockville | 2,366 | 29.3% | 40.3% |
Matched among Maryland high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Atholton High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Howard County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.8% | #60 of 203 | #9 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.1% | #86 of 206 ▲ 3 | #9 of 13 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 76.3% | #43 of 206 ▲ 22 | #8 of 13 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,540 | #72 of 234 | #3 of 14 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.7:1 | #124 of 210 | #9 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 76.2% | #4 of 211 | #2 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 22.9% | #180 of 212 | #8 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.2% | #105 of 131 | #6 of 6 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,540
+68 (+5%) vs 2020
+43% since 1990-91, when it was 1,077
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
was 16.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,540 | 92.2 | 16.7:1 | 23% (353) |
| 2023-24 | 1,498 | 93.8 | 16.0:1 | 24% (359) |
| 2022-23 | 1,467 | 94.6 | 15.5:1 | 24% (352) |
| 2020-21 | 1,472 | 90 | 16.4:1 | 13% (198) |
| 2017-18 | 1,478 | 93.6 | 15.8:1 | 8% (116) |
| 2015-16 | 1,437 | 97 | 14.8:1 | 8% (112) |
| 2010-11 | 1,459 | 97 | 15.0:1 | 6% (85) |
| 2000-01 | 1,182 | 70 | 16.9:1 | 9% (110) |
| 1990-91 | 1,077 | 59 | 18.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Atholton High.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (1,478 to 1,540); teachers down 1% (93.6 to 92.2).
About Atholton High
Atholton High is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as a high school in Columbia, Maryland. The school serves 1,540 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. The average among high schools in Maryland is roughly 1,185 students; this school is 30% above that.
Howard County Public Schools (77 schools, 57,565 students) runs Atholton High.
The most common group at Atholton High is Black students, at 32%. The school is also 27% White, 19% Asian, 14% Hispanic, and 8% multiracial. The Black share of the county population is lower, at 20%. The school's diversity index is 76%, meaning two students picked at random have a 76% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Atholton High operates with 92.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 16.7:1. That is higher than the 15.3:1 average for high schools in Maryland. About 23% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits.
Measured against Maryland public high schools, Atholton High receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Atholton High is -18.9 points, in the bottom 10% of Maryland. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 41.8%, and the predicted rate is 60.6%.
In Howard County (population about 336,328), the median household income is $149,763, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 65% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 4%. There are 78 public schools in Howard County, enrolling about 57,565 students in all.
The closest other public school is Clemens Crossing Elementary, about 0.6 miles away. Atholton High has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Atholton High's average proficiency of 41.8% compares with 45.7% for its nearest scored neighbors.
Under the NCES locale system, Atholton High is City: Mid-size.
Enrollment grew 5% from its 2020-21 level of 1,472.
The Atholton High community page is open for posts about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Howard County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
336,328
Census ACS
Median income
$149,763
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
65%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
78
57,565 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Howard County Public Schools
- Marriotts Ridge HighHigh · 1,741 students
- Reservoir HighHigh · 1,597 students
- Howard HighHigh · 1,493 students
- Mount Hebron HighHigh · 1,455 students
- Oakland Mills HighHigh · 1,413 students
- River Hill HighHigh · 1,383 students
Other schools in Columbia
- Oakland Mills HighHigh · 1,413 students
- Long Reach HighHigh · 1,334 students
- Wilde Lake HighHigh · 1,197 students
- Hammond HighHigh · 1,159 students
- Phelps Luck ElementaryElementary · 681 students
- Waterloo ElementaryElementary · 666 students
Nearby schools
- Clemens Crossing Elementary0.6 mi · 481
- Atholton Elementary0.9 mi · 516
- Hammond High1.8 mi · 1,159
- Lake Elkhorn Middle2.0 mi · 569
- Wilde Lake Middle2.0 mi · 643
- Swansfield Elementary2.0 mi · 594
Frequently asked questions
About Atholton HighHow many students attend Atholton High?
Atholton High enrolls approximately 1,540 students in grades 09-12.
Is Atholton High an elementary, middle, or high school?
Atholton High is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Atholton High have?
Atholton High employs 92 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Atholton High?
Student demographics at Atholton High are roughly 27% White, 14% Hispanic, 32% Black, 19% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Atholton High in?
Atholton High is part of Howard County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.