Bethesda Elementary

Set in Bethesda, Maryland, Bethesda Elementary is a medium-sized elementary campus, overseen by Montgomery County Public Schools. It works with 645 students across grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 481 students per school, that is 34% above typical.

Across the 208 schools in Montgomery County Public Schools (159,181 students total), Bethesda Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Bethesda Elementary reports that the most-represented group is White (36%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder comes out to 23% Asian, 18% Black, 15% Hispanic, 9% multiracial.

In terms of school funding signals, The school lists 40 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 16.2:1. The state averages around 13.8:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 25% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Montgomery County (around 40%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Bethesda Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 59.3%, the actual is 68.2%, a residual of +9.0 points.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Montgomery County indicate the typical household earns roughly $132,450 per year, about 61% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Bethesda Elementary is one of 211 public schools in Montgomery County (combined enrollment of about 159,181 students).

The closest other public school is Bethesda-Chevy Chase High, roughly 0.6 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Bethesda Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 70.3%.

The school occupies a city-core site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked up 4%: 619 students in 2018 compared to 645 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share ticked down from 58% to 36%.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.