Frederick Douglass High

Frederick Douglass High is a four-year high school of cozy scale in Baltimore, Maryland, part of Baltimore City Public Schools, teacheing 539 students in grades 9 through 12. By comparison, Maryland's public schools average about 1,185 students each, so Frederick Douglass High sits 55% smaller than that benchmark.

Frederick Douglass High is one of 152 schools operated by Baltimore City Public Schools, a district that enrolls 76,946 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Frederick Douglass High lists that 83% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. The remainder reads as 15% Hispanic. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 59%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Frederick Douglass High shows 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 11.7:1. The state averages around 15.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 86% of students at Frederick Douglass High qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Baltimore city (around 74%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Frederick Douglass High sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 23.1%; this one delivers 18.4%.

In the broader community, Baltimore city reports that median household earnings sit near $62,177, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 15%. In all, Baltimore city runs 156 public schools (combined enrollment of about 77,341 students), of which Frederick Douglass High is one.

Nearest neighbor: Cross Country Elementary/Middle, around 0.0 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Frederick Douglass High ranks 8th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 31.9%.

Frederick Douglass High operates from a city-core location.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Frederick Douglass High has fell 41%, going from 906 students in 2018 to 539 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment fell from 99% to 83% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 18.1:1 in 2018 to 11.7:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Frederick Douglass High community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.