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What's the biggest difference between Gaithersburg High and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,441
High
DISTRICT 2,003 · STATE 1,185
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048000838
Gaithersburg High
101 Education Blvd, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 · (301) 284-4500 · Montgomery County
GRADES 09–12HIGH13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL2,441 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 13% of Maryland public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-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
13.9:1
175 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
56%
1,360 students
DISTRICT 40% · 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 | 712 | 29% |
| Grade 10 | 693 | 28% |
| Grade 11 | 568 | 23% |
| Grade 12 | 468 | 19% |
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · 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
44.2%
MD avg 50.6% . +1.0pp since 2023
Math
10.7%
MD avg 34.8% . +0.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 11 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 1 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.2% | 10.7% |
| 2023-24 | 43.2% | 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
27.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.3%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 27% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 41% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Gaithersburg High
Gaithersburg High's state test result (27.0% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaithersburg High this school | 2,441 | 55.7% | 27.0% |
| Wheaton High Silver Spring | 2,794 | 56.6% | 31.9% |
| John F. Kennedy High Silver Spring | 1,880 | 56.0% | 23.8% |
| Northwood High Rockville | 1,654 | 58.4% | 30.1% |
| Watkins Mill High Gaithersburg | 1,577 | 51.7% | 24.6% |
| Annapolis High Annapolis | 2,075 | 62.6% | 29.8% |
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 Gaithersburg High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.0% | #148 of 203 | #23 of 25 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.7% | #108 of 206 ▲ 61 | #11 of 25 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.2% | #149 of 206 ▼ 7 | #23 of 25 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,441 | #10 of 234 | #4 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.9:1 | #30 of 210 | #2 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.7% | #107 of 211 | #24 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 55.7% | #89 of 212 | #5 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.2% | #117 of 131 | #17 of 18 |
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
2,441
+82 (+3%) vs 2020
+78% since 1990-91, when it was 1,372
Student : Teacher
13.9:1
was 13.6:1
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 | 2,441 | 175.4 | 13.9:1 | 56% (1,360) |
| 2023-24 | 2,454 | 177 | 13.9:1 | 54% (1,321) |
| 2022-23 | 2,436 | 170.8 | 14.3:1 | 66% (1,603) |
| 2020-21 | 2,359 | 174 | 13.6:1 | 53% (1,257) |
| 2017-18 | 2,388 | 168.1 | 14.2:1 | 41% (977) |
| 2015-16 | 2,306 | 149 | 15.5:1 | 43% (986) |
| 2010-11 | 2,012 | 127 | 15.8:1 | 37% (735) |
| 2000-01 | 1,994 | 117 | 17.0:1 | 18% (349) |
| 1990-91 | 1,372 | 87 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Gaithersburg High.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (2,388 to 2,441); teachers up 4% (168.1 to 175.4).
About Gaithersburg High
Gaithersburg High is a large high school in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The student body numbers 2,441 students, from grades 9 through 12. An average school in this group (high schools in Maryland) has about 1,185 students.
Montgomery County Public Schools oversees Gaithersburg High and 207 other schools, with 159,181 students in total.
Roughly 63% of students at Gaithersburg High are Hispanic. Enrollment also includes 20% Black, 8% White, 6% Asian, and 3% multiracial. Among people living in Montgomery County, the Hispanic share is about 21%. The school's diversity index is 56%, meaning two students picked at random have a 56% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The school reports 175.4 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 13.9 students per teacher. That is 1.4 students per teacher below the 15.3:1 average for high schools in Maryland. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 56% of students. Compared with the 40% average for public schools in Montgomery County, the school's rate is higher.
Measured against Maryland public high schools, Gaithersburg High receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Gaithersburg High falls short of its prediction by 14.2 points. The model expects 41.3% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Maryland; the school's rate is 27.0%.
Census estimates describe Montgomery County this way: the median household income is $132,450, about 61% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. In all, Montgomery County has 211 public schools and roughly 159,181 students.
Gaithersburg Elementary is the closest public school, about 0.6 miles away in a straight line. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Gaithersburg High. Of the 9 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Gaithersburg High is 4th on average proficiency.
Its location is classified as City: Small by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The school enrolled 2,441 students in 2024-25, 82 more than the 2,359 it had in 2020-21.
Posts about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Montgomery County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,065,949
Census ACS
Median income
$132,450
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
61%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
211
159,181 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Montgomery County Public Schools
- Montgomery Blair HighHigh · 3,266 students
- Walter Johnson HighHigh · 3,016 students
- Wheaton HighHigh · 2,794 students
- Seneca Valley HighHigh · 2,409 students
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase HighHigh · 2,377 students
- Richard Montgomery HighHigh · 2,366 students
Other schools in Gaithersburg
- Quince Orchard HighHigh · 2,100 students
- Watkins Mill HighHigh · 1,577 students
- Lakelands Park MiddleMiddle · 993 students
- Gaithersburg MiddleMiddle · 869 students
- Forest Oak MiddleMiddle · 828 students
- South Lake ElementaryElementary · 746 students
Nearby schools
- Gaithersburg Elementary0.6 mi · 603
- Summit Hall Elementary0.6 mi · 413
- Gaithersburg Middle0.7 mi · 869
- Rosemont Elementary0.9 mi · 564
- Washington Grove Elementary0.9 mi · 480
- Harriet R. Tubman Elementary1.0 mi · 571
Frequently asked questions
About Gaithersburg HighWhat is the total enrollment at Gaithersburg High?
Gaithersburg High enrolls approximately 2,441 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Gaithersburg High serve?
Gaithersburg High serves grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Gaithersburg High?
Approximately 13.9:1 students per teacher at Gaithersburg High.
What is the student diversity at Gaithersburg High?
Student demographics at Gaithersburg High are roughly 8% White, 63% Hispanic, 20% Black, 6% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Gaithersburg High public or private?
Gaithersburg High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Montgomery County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.