1
Enrollment
570
Elementary
DISTRICT 514 · STATE 481
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048000781
Bells Mill Elementary
8225 Bells Mill Rd, Potomac, MD 20854 · (240) 740-0480 · Montgomery County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL570 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.9:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
15%
85 students
DISTRICT 40% · 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 | 20 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 77 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 88 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 101 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 97 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 80 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 107 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (77) is 28% smaller than its 5th grade class (107).
Student demographics
72%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · 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
84.6%
MD avg 50.6% . -2.9pp since 2023
Math
75.2%
MD avg 34.8% . -6.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 85 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 75 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 7 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 84.6% | 75.2% |
| 2023-24 | 87.5% | 81.8% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
82.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.4%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 82% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 65% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 17 points, placing it in Maryland's top 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 Bells Mill Elementary
Bells Mill Elementary's state test result (82.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bells Mill Elementary this school | 570 | 14.9% | 82.3% |
| Ilchester Elementary Ellicott City | 482 | 13.7% | 72.4% |
| Rockburn Elementary Elkridge | 649 | 12.3% | 79.2% |
| Centerville Elementary Frederick | 471 | 19.1% | 81.5% |
| Beverly Farms Elementary Potomac | 526 | 8.6% | 82.7% |
| Northfield Elementary Ellicott City | 764 | 17.5% | 70.3% |
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 Bells Mill Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 82.3% | #18 of 853 | #11 of 131 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 75.2% | #54 of 853 ▼ 38 | #22 of 131 ▼ 16 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 84.6% | #27 of 853 ▼ 14 | #10 of 131 ▼ 7 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 570 | #255 of 898 | #48 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.3:1 | #738 of 857 | #123 of 136 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.0% | #118 of 857 | #40 of 136 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 14.9% | #830 of 885 | #119 of 137 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.4% | #422 of 551 | #73 of 97 |
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
570
-9 (-2%) vs 2020
+34% since 1990-91, when it was 426
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
was 16.5:1
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 | 570 | 34.9 | 16.3:1 | 15% (85) |
| 2023-24 | 591 | 35.8 | 16.5:1 | 17% (103) |
| 2022-23 | 611 | 37 | 16.5:1 | 16% (100) |
| 2020-21 | 579 | 35 | 16.5:1 | 11% (61) |
| 2017-18 | 609 | 35.3 | 17.3:1 | 10% (59) |
| 2015-16 | 626 | 35 | 17.9:1 | 11% (69) |
| 2010-11 | 538 | 32 | 16.8:1 | 11% (57) |
| 2000-01 | 450 | 25 | 18.0:1 | 17% (77) |
| 1990-91 | 426 | 23 | 18.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bells Mill Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (609 to 570); teachers down 1% (35.3 to 34.9).
About Bells Mill Elementary
Bells Mill Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school. Its address is in Potomac, Maryland. Enrollment stands at 570 students, covering pre-K through 5.
The Montgomery County Public Schools system has 208 schools and 159,181 students.
White students make up 42% of enrollment at Bells Mill Elementary, the largest share of any group. Other reported shares: 27% Asian, 13% Black, 10% Hispanic, and 8% multiracial. That is in line with Montgomery County, where about 42% of residents are White. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 72%.
A staff of 34.9 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 16.3:1. Elementary schools in Maryland average 13.8:1, 2.5 fewer students per teacher than here. Bells Mill Elementary counts 15% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Montgomery County is 40%.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Bells Mill Elementary would score about 65.4%. It scores 82.3%, a top-10% result among Maryland schools on BeatsExpectations.
In the surrounding county, Montgomery County, the median household earns about $132,450 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 61%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Counting Bells Mill Elementary, Montgomery County has 211 public schools.
Cabin John Middle is about 0.2 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. On average proficiency, Bells Mill Elementary is 4th of 9 nearby schools with test data.
Bells Mill Elementary is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels Suburb: Large.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment held near 570, starting from 579.
People can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Montgomery County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,065,949
Census ACS
Median income
$132,450
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
61%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
211
159,181 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Montgomery County Public Schools
- Montgomery Blair HighHigh · 3,266 students
- Walter Johnson HighHigh · 3,016 students
- Wheaton HighHigh · 2,794 students
- Gaithersburg HighHigh · 2,441 students
- Seneca Valley HighHigh · 2,409 students
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase HighHigh · 2,377 students
Other schools in Potomac
- Winston Churchill HighHigh · 2,185 students
- Cabin John MiddleMiddle · 983 students
- Herbert Hoover MiddleMiddle · 930 students
- Beverly Farms ElementaryElementary · 526 students
- Potomac ElementaryElementary · 475 students
- Wayside ElementaryElementary · 465 students
Nearby schools
- Cabin John Middle0.2 mi · 983
- Winston Churchill High0.8 mi · 2,185
- Herbert Hoover Middle1.0 mi · 930
- Seven Locks Elementary1.4 mi · 376
- Beverly Farms Elementary1.4 mi · 526
- Farmland Elementary1.6 mi · 847
Frequently asked questions
About Bells Mill ElementaryHow large is Bells Mill Elementary?
Bells Mill Elementary enrolls approximately 570 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Bells Mill Elementary serve?
Bells Mill Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Bells Mill Elementary?
Approximately 16.3:1 students per teacher at Bells Mill Elementary.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Bells Mill Elementary?
At Bells Mill Elementary, the student body is approximately 42% White, 10% Hispanic, 13% Black, 27% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Bells Mill Elementary in?
Bells Mill Elementary is part of Montgomery County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.