Forest Ridge Elementary

Set in Laurel, Maryland, Forest Ridge Elementary is a moderately sized K-5 school, overseen by Howard County Public Schools. It educates 659 students across grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 481 students per school, that is 37% larger than typical.

Howard County Public Schools runs 77 schools in total, collectively educating 57,565 students. Forest Ridge Elementary is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Forest Ridge Elementary reports that 43% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest consists of 22% Hispanic, 15% Asian, 13% White, 5% multiracial. By comparison, Howard County as a whole is about 20% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Forest Ridge Elementary logs 52 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.7:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.8:1 average. An estimated 41% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is above Howard County's rate of about 27%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Forest Ridge Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 50.1%, the actual is 43.7%, a residual of -6.4 points.

In the broader community, Howard County reports that median household income runs about $149,763, roughly 65% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. Across Howard County's 78 public schools (combined enrollment of about 57,565 students), Forest Ridge Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Bollman Bridge Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Forest Ridge Elementary comes 3rd of 9 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 44.1%.

Forest Ridge Elementary operates from a residential location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 5%: 693 students in 2018 compared to 659 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment edged up from 31% to 43% over that span.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.