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How has Bellows Spring Elementary changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
806
Elementary
DISTRICT 614 · STATE 481
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HOWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240042001551
Bellows Spring Elementary
8125 Old Stockbridge Dr, Ellicott City, MD 21043 · (410) 313-5057 · Howard County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL806 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 62% of Maryland public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.5:1
64 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.7:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
26%
212 students
DISTRICT 29% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 71 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 113 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 145 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 111 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 130 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 123 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 113 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (113) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (113).
Student demographics
74%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
64.9%
MD avg 50.6% . +5.9pp since 2023
Math
57.7%
MD avg 34.8% . -0.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 58 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.9% | 57.7% |
| 2023-24 | 59.0% | 58.3% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
60.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
58.6%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 60% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 59% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Maryland's top nor bottom 10%.
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 Bellows Spring Elementary
Bellows Spring Elementary's state test result (60.0% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellows Spring Elementary this school | 806 | 26.3% | 60.0% |
| Cabin Branch Elementary Clarksburg | 645 | 28.1% | 69.0% |
| Little Bennett Elementary Clarksburg | 614 | 29.3% | 59.1% |
| Veterans Elementary Ellicott City | 883 | 27.5% | 66.0% |
| Dr. Ronald E. McNair Elementary Germantown | 673 | 33.6% | 59.9% |
| Spark M. Matsunaga Elementary Germantown | 530 | 28.7% | 72.5% |
Matched among Maryland elementary 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 Bellows Spring Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Howard County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 60.0% | #216 of 853 | #23 of 42 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 57.7% | #211 of 853 ▼ 15 | #20 of 42 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.9% | #214 of 853 ▲ 49 | #21 of 42 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 806 | #36 of 898 | #6 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.5:1 | #234 of 857 | #19 of 42 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.7% | #63 of 857 | #10 of 42 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 26.3% | #745 of 885 | #21 of 42 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.9% | #513 of 551 | #24 of 26 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
806
+130 (+19%) vs 2020
-6% since 2010-11, when it was 853
Student : Teacher
12.5:1
was 11.7:1
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 | 806 | 64.4 | 12.5:1 | 26% (212) |
| 2023-24 | 825 | 68 | 12.1:1 | 26% (213) |
| 2022-23 | 799 | 63.9 | 12.5:1 | 26% (205) |
| 2020-21 | 676 | 58 | 11.7:1 | 15% (101) |
| 2017-18 | 822 | 61.5 | 13.4:1 | 13% (107) |
| 2015-16 | 734 | 56 | 13.1:1 | 14% (101) |
| 2010-11 | 853 | 58 | 14.7:1 | 12% (100) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bellows Spring Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (822 to 806); teachers up 5% (61.5 to 64.4).
About Bellows Spring Elementary
Bellows Spring Elementary is an elementary school with a street address in Ellicott City, Maryland. It reports enrollment of 806 students in pre-K through 5. Across elementary schools in Maryland, the average enrollment is about 481.
Bellows Spring Elementary is part of a district of 77 schools: Howard County Public Schools, with 57,565 students.
Asian students make up 34% of enrollment at Bellows Spring Elementary, the largest share of any group. The next largest groups are 32% Black, 18% White, 10% Hispanic, and 6% multiracial. In Howard County overall, about 19% of residents are Asian. A diversity index of 74% means there is a 74% chance two randomly chosen students at Bellows Spring Elementary are from different groups.
A staff of 64.4 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 12.5:1. Across elementary schools in Maryland, the average ratio is 13.8:1. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 26%. That is in line with the 27% average for public schools in Howard County.
Among Maryland public elementary schools, Bellows Spring Elementary outscored 62%, which works out to a B on the allk12 Grade.
In Maryland, Bellows Spring Elementary is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 60.0% actual against a predicted 58.6%.
In Howard County, home to about 336,328 people, median household income comes to about $149,763, 65% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Howard County's 78 public schools enroll about 57,565 students and include Bellows Spring Elementary.
Mayfield Woods Middle is about 0.4 miles away, making it the nearest public school. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Bellows Spring Elementary ranks 4th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 60.0% against a local average of 54.6%.
Its location is classified as Suburb: Large by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The school grew from 676 students in 2020-21 to 806 in 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about Bellows Spring Elementary, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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
- Atholton HighHigh · 1,540 students
- Howard HighHigh · 1,493 students
- Mount Hebron HighHigh · 1,455 students
- Oakland Mills HighHigh · 1,413 students
Other schools in Ellicott City
- Howard HighHigh · 1,493 students
- Mount Hebron HighHigh · 1,455 students
- Centennial HighHigh · 1,377 students
- Veterans ElementaryElementary · 883 students
- Waverly ElementaryElementary · 827 students
- Burleigh Manor MiddleMiddle · 777 students
Nearby schools
- Mayfield Woods Middle0.4 mi · 731
- Waterloo Elementary0.6 mi · 666
- Rockburn Elementary1.2 mi · 649
- Long Reach High1.3 mi · 1,334
- Deep Run Elementary1.4 mi · 638
- Ilchester Elementary2.0 mi · 482
Frequently asked questions
About Bellows Spring ElementaryHow many students attend Bellows Spring Elementary?
Bellows Spring Elementary enrolls approximately 806 students in grades PK-05.
Is Bellows Spring Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Bellows Spring Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bellows Spring Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Bellows Spring Elementary is approximately 12.5:1 (64 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Bellows Spring Elementary?
Bellows Spring Elementary reports a student body of 18% White, 10% Hispanic, 32% Black, 34% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is Bellows Spring Elementary in?
Bellows Spring Elementary is part of Howard County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.