Bells Mill Elementary

Bells Mill Elementary is an average-sized elementary school in Potomac, Maryland, run under Montgomery County Public Schools. The school teaches 570 students in grades pre-K through 5.

Within Montgomery County Public Schools, which oversees 208 schools and 159,181 students, Bells Mill Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Bells Mill Elementary records that the largest single group is White at 42%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school reports 27% Asian, 13% Black, 10% Hispanic, 8% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.3:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.8:1 average. About 15% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is south of Montgomery County's rate of about 40%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Bells Mill Elementary is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 65.4%; this one delivers 82.3%, a residual of +16.9 points.

In the area at large, census data for Montgomery County shows median household earnings sit near $132,450, about 61% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Across Montgomery County's 211 public schools (combined enrollment of about 159,181 students), Bells Mill Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Cabin John Middle, around 0.2 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Bells Mill Elementary comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 69.7%.

The campus sits in a residential setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Bells Mill Elementary's enrollment has declined 6% since 2018, when it stood at 609 (now 570).

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.