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What's the most underrated thing about Benfield Elementary that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
500
Elementary
DISTRICT 471 · STATE 481
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240006000045
Benfield Elementary
365 Lynwood Dr, Severna Park, MD 21146 · (410) 222-6555 · Anne Arundel County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL500 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 91% of Maryland public elementary schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-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
15.2:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.1:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
8%
41 students
DISTRICT 46% · 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 | 30 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 77 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 89 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 76 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 89 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 72 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 67 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (77) is 15% larger than its 5th grade class (67).
Student demographics
24%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
88.7%
MD avg 50.6% . +3.4pp since 2023
Math
64.6%
MD avg 34.8% . -14.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 89 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 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 3 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 15 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 88.7% | 64.6% |
| 2023-24 | 85.3% | 79.4% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
79.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.4%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 80% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Benfield Elementary
Benfield Elementary's state test result (79.5% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benfield Elementary this school | 500 | 8.2% | 79.5% |
| Jarrettsville Elementary Jarrettsville | 467 | 14.1% | 62.0% |
| Jacksonville Elementary Phoenix | 533 | 7.7% | 79.4% |
| Prettyboy Elementary Freeland | 405 | 10.1% | 67.2% |
| Mechanicsville Elementary Sykesville | 510 | 15.5% | 64.9% |
| Folger Mckinsey Elementary Severna Park | 644 | 7.6% | 79.4% |
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 Benfield Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Anne Arundel County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 79.5% | #35 of 853 | #2 of 80 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 64.6% | #153 of 853 ▼ 126 | #13 of 80 ▼ 12 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 88.7% | #12 of 853 ▲ 6 | #3 of 80 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 500 | #379 of 898 | #39 of 84 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.2:1 | #617 of 857 | #67 of 81 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 24.4% | #766 of 857 | #80 of 81 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 8.2% | #869 of 885 | #80 of 83 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +14.4% | #105 of 294 | #10 of 32 |
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
500
+108 (+28%) vs 2020
+28% since 1990-91, when it was 392
Student : Teacher
15.2:1
was 13.5:1
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 | 500 | 32.8 | 15.2:1 | 8% (41) |
| 2023-24 | 462 | 31.7 | 14.6:1 | 7% (33) |
| 2022-23 | 455 | 30.8 | 14.8:1 | 6% (28) |
| 2020-21 | 392 | 29 | 13.5:1 | 6% (22) |
| 2017-18 | 437 | 26.5 | 16.5:1 | 3% (15) |
| 2015-16 | 465 | 27 | 17.2:1 | 4% (19) |
| 2010-11 | 503 | 28 | 18.0:1 | 0% (0) |
| 2000-01 | 379 | 22 | 17.2:1 | 1% (4) |
| 1990-91 | 392 | 19 | 20.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Benfield Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 14% (437 to 500); teachers up 24% (26.5 to 32.8).
About Benfield Elementary
Benfield Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school in Maryland, with an address in Severna Park. It offers pre-K through 5 and has 500 students enrolled.
Benfield Elementary is one school in Anne Arundel County Public Schools, a system of 125 schools with 85,029 students.
White students are 87% of those enrolled at Benfield Elementary. Other reported shares: 5% Hispanic and 5% multiracial. That compares with about 63% White among all Anne Arundel County residents. A diversity index of 24% means there is a 24% chance two randomly chosen students at Benfield Elementary are from different groups.
Teacher count: 32.8 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 15.2:1. The average for elementary schools in Maryland, 13.8:1, is lower. Roughly 8% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 42% average for public schools in Anne Arundel County, the school's rate is lower.
On the allk12 Grade, Benfield Elementary lands at A, ahead of 91% of Maryland public elementary schools.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 69.4% for Benfield Elementary. The school posts 79.5%, 10.1 points above the prediction.
The school's county is Anne Arundel County. According to Census Bureau estimates, median household income comes to about $124,911, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 46%, and roughly 4% of residents are in poverty. There are 129 public schools in the county, enrolling about 85,074, Benfield Elementary among them.
Severna Park Middle sits about 0.2 miles from Benfield Elementary. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. By average proficiency, Benfield Elementary is 1st among 8 schools close by.
In the federal locale system, Benfield Elementary is coded Suburb: Large, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment in 2024-25 stood at 500, compared with 392 in 2020-21. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio increased to 15.2:1, from 13.5:1.
People can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates and other school topics. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Anne Arundel County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
598,166
Census ACS
Median income
$124,911
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
129
85,074 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Anne Arundel County Public Schools
- Glen Burnie HighHigh · 2,226 students
- North County HighHigh · 2,161 students
- Broadneck HighHigh · 2,143 students
- Annapolis HighHigh · 2,075 students
- Meade HighHigh · 2,045 students
- Crofton High SchoolHigh · 1,906 students
Other schools in Severna Park
- Severna Park HighHigh · 1,842 students
- Severna Park MiddleMiddle · 1,386 students
- Folger Mckinsey ElementaryElementary · 644 students
- Oak Hill ElementaryElementary · 628 students
- Anne Arundel Evening HighHigh · 439 students
- Severna Park ElementaryElementary · 372 students
Nearby schools
- Severna Park Middle0.2 mi · 1,386
- Oak Hill Elementary1.1 mi · 628
- Severna Park High1.6 mi · 1,842
- Shipley's Choice Elementary1.6 mi · 344
- Anne Arundel Evening High1.8 mi · 439
- Pasadena Elementary2.0 mi · 450
Frequently asked questions
About Benfield ElementaryHow many students attend Benfield Elementary?
Benfield Elementary enrolls approximately 500 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Benfield Elementary serve?
Benfield Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Benfield Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Benfield Elementary is approximately 15.2:1 (33 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Benfield Elementary?
At Benfield Elementary, the student body is approximately 87% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Benfield Elementary in?
Benfield Elementary is part of Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.