1
What tradition at Central High should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
754
High
DISTRICT 1,588 · STATE 1,185
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240051001002
Central High
200 Cabin Branch Rd, Capitol Heights, MD 20743 · (301) 499-7080 · Prince George's County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL754 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 14% of Maryland public high schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-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 high schools
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
54 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.6:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
535 students
DISTRICT 79% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 187 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 180 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 251 | 33% |
| Grade 12 | 136 | 18% |
Student demographics
44%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · 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
31.7%
MD avg 50.6% . -0.2pp since 2023
Math
10.0%
MD avg 34.8% . +0.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 32 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 10 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 31.7% | 10.0% |
| 2023-24 | 31.9% | 10.0% |
% 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
20.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.2%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 21% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 32% 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 Central High
Central High's state test result (20.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central High this school | 754 | 71.0% | 20.9% |
| Surrattsville High Clinton | 875 | 64.7% | 22.9% |
| Forest Park High Baltimore | 1,024 | 75.1% | 21.4% |
| Owings Mills High Owings Mills | 1,040 | 62.5% | 18.5% |
| Friendly High Fort Washington | 894 | 63.5% | 22.0% |
| Academy for College and Career Exploration Baltimore | 967 | 79.1% | 16.4% |
Matched among Maryland high 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 Central High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Prince George's County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 20.9% | #181 of 203 | #23 of 25 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.0% | #188 of 206 ▼ 6 | #13 of 25 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 31.7% | #184 of 206 ▼ 8 | #23 of 25 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 754 | #170 of 234 | #21 of 25 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.1:1 | #32 of 210 | #4 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.4% | #140 of 211 | #13 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 71.0% | #38 of 212 | #13 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.7% | #7 of 76 | #1 of 7 |
Ranked against other public high 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
754
-23 (-3%) vs 2020
0% since 1990-91, when it was 754
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
was 13.4:1
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 | 754 | 53.5 | 14.1:1 | 71% (535) |
| 2023-24 | 803 | 52.5 | 15.3:1 | 73% (583) |
| 2022-23 | 877 | 56.5 | 15.5:1 | 74% (649) |
| 2020-21 | 777 | 58 | 13.4:1 | 73% (564) |
| 2017-18 | 927 | 71 | 13.1:1 | 70% (653) |
| 2015-16 | 947 | 74 | 12.8:1 | 64% (610) |
| 2010-11 | 1,057 | 79 | 13.4:1 | 53% (563) |
| 2000-01 | 1,175 | 80 | 14.7:1 | 34% (396) |
| 1990-91 | 754 | 56 | 13.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central High.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (927 to 754); teachers down 25% (71 to 53.5).
About Central High
Students in Capitol Heights, Maryland, attend Central High, a small high school. It is open to students in grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 754 students. High schools in Maryland have about 1,185 students on average; enrollment here is 36% lower.
Prince George's County Public Schools runs Central High along with 198 other schools, enrolling 132,693 students in total.
More than half of the students at Central High are Black (68%). Beyond that, enrollment is 30% Hispanic. In Prince George's County overall, about 59% of residents are Black. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 44%.
On staff are 53.5 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 14.1:1. The average for high schools in Maryland is 15.3:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. About 71% of students at Central High are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Prince George's County is 79%.
Among Maryland public high schools, Central High outscored 14%, which works out to a D on the allk12 Grade.
Central High sits between the top and bottom 10% of Maryland schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 20.9% and a predicted 32.2%.
In Prince George's County, home to about 959,754 people, median household income comes to about $101,798, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 37%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Prince George's County's 203 public schools enroll about 132,693 students and include Central High.
Central High's nearest public school is Walker Mill Middle (about 0.5 miles). Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Central High ranks 7th of 9 on average proficiency.
Central High has an NCES locale of Suburb: Large.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 3% decline, from 777 to 754.
Anyone can start a thread about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Central High. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Prince George's County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
959,754
Census ACS
Median income
$101,798
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
203
132,693 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Prince George's County Public Schools
- High Point HighHigh · 3,012 students
- Charles Herbert Flowers HighHigh · 2,712 students
- Parkdale HighHigh · 2,588 students
- Bowie HighHigh · 2,580 students
- Eleanor Roosevelt HighHigh · 2,544 students
- Duval HighHigh · 2,522 students
Other schools in Capitol Heights
- Walker Mill MiddleMiddle · 1,054 students
- William W. Hall AcademyElementary · 444 students
- Carmody Hills ElementaryElementary · 389 students
- H Winship Wheatley E C CElementary · 345 students
- John H. Bayne ElementaryElementary · 339 students
- Capitol Heights ElementaryElementary · 317 students
Other Central High schools
70 other US public schools in 32 states are named Central High. Central High is the 38th largest of the 71.
- Central High SchoolSAN ANGELO, TX · 2,985 students
- CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOLOMAHA, NE · 2,587 students
- Central High SchoolKELLER, TX · 2,410 students
- CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOLLITTLE ROCK, AR · 2,371 students
- Central High SchoolPhiladelphia, PA · 2,329 students
Nearby schools
- Walker Mill Middle0.5 mi · 1,054
- John H. Bayne Elementary0.8 mi · 339
- Carmody Hills Elementary1.0 mi · 389
- Capitol Heights Elementary1.1 mi · 317
- Doswell E. Brooks Elementary1.3 mi · 291
- Seat Pleasant Elementary1.3 mi · 284
Frequently asked questions
About Central HighHow many students attend Central High?
Central High enrolls approximately 754 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Central High serve?
Central High serves grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Central High have?
Central High employs 54 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Central High?
Student demographics at Central High are roughly 1% White, 30% Hispanic, 68% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Central High in?
Central High is part of Prince George's County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.