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What advice would you give to incoming students at Galway Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
695
Elementary
DISTRICT 514 · STATE 481
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048000839
Galway Elementary
12612 Galway Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20904 · (240) 740-0140 · Montgomery County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL695 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
62 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.9:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
59%
407 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 34 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 112 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 112 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 126 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 108 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 85 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 118 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (112) is 5% smaller than its 5th grade class (118).
Student demographics
58%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
48.6%
MD avg 50.6% . -4.2pp since 2023
Math
37.5%
MD avg 34.8% . -9.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores are down about 4 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 9 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 48.6% | 37.5% |
| 2023-24 | 52.8% | 46.9% |
% 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
46.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.6%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Galway Elementary
Galway Elementary's state test result (46.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galway Elementary this school | 695 | 58.6% | 46.5% |
| Monarch Global Academy PCS Laurel Campus Laurel | 830 | 57.2% | 45.7% |
| Laurel Woods Elementary Laurel | 625 | 58.4% | 38.1% |
| Jackson Road Elementary Silver Spring | 623 | 59.4% | 29.9% |
| Fairland Elementary Silver Spring | 553 | 58.6% | 47.0% |
| Greencastle Elementary Silver Spring | 722 | 60.4% | 29.3% |
Matched among Maryland elementary 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 Galway Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.5% | #385 of 853 | #82 of 131 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.5% | #473 of 853 ▼ 148 | #97 of 131 ▼ 21 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 48.6% | #448 of 853 ▼ 122 | #86 of 131 ▼ 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 695 | #103 of 898 | #14 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.3:1 | #100 of 857 | #32 of 136 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 58.2% | #406 of 857 | #107 of 136 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 58.6% | #431 of 885 | #35 of 137 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -11.8% | #302 of 551 | #50 of 97 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
695
-55 (-7%) vs 2020
+28% since 1990-91, when it was 542
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
was 12.5:1
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 | 695 | 61.8 | 11.3:1 | 59% (407) |
| 2023-24 | 701 | 63.5 | 11.0:1 | 58% (407) |
| 2022-23 | 733 | 61.5 | 11.9:1 | 73% (532) |
| 2020-21 | 750 | 60 | 12.5:1 | 62% (463) |
| 2017-18 | 788 | 58.7 | 13.4:1 | 58% (458) |
| 2015-16 | 807 | 57 | 14.2:1 | 60% (484) |
| 2010-11 | 790 | 54 | 14.6:1 | 54% (428) |
| 2000-01 | 696 | 38 | 18.3:1 | 31% (219) |
| 1990-91 | 542 | 27 | 20.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Galway Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 12% (788 to 695); teachers up 5% (58.7 to 61.8).
About Galway Elementary
Galway Elementary is a public elementary school in Silver Spring, Maryland. It enrolled 695 students in pre-K through 5 for the 2024-25 school year. Enrollment is 44% higher than the average for elementary schools in Maryland, which is about 481.
Galway Elementary is a school in Montgomery County Public Schools. The district has 208 schools and 159,181 students.
At Galway Elementary, Black students make up 56% of the student body. It is also 31% Hispanic, 7% Asian, 3% White, and 3% multiracial. For comparison, the population of Montgomery County is roughly 19% Black. Galway Elementary's diversity index is 58%, against a US figure of 70%.
Federal staffing data show 61.8 full-time-equivalent teachers at Galway Elementary and a ratio of 11.3:1. This ratio sits 2.6 below the 13.8:1 average for elementary schools in Maryland. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 59% of students. The gap from the 40% average for public schools in Montgomery County is 19 points.
On BeatsExpectations, Galway Elementary is 6.9 points above its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Maryland schools.
Federal survey data for Montgomery County show that the median household income is $132,450, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 61% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 5%. Montgomery County is home to 211 public schools and about 159,181 public school students.
The nearest public school is Calverton Elementary, at about 0.8 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Galway Elementary places 2nd of 7 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
By NCES locale, the school is Suburb: Large, or in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Compared with 2020-21, the school had 55 fewer students in 2024-25. The number of students per teacher fell from 12.5 to 11.3 over 4 years.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. 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
- Gaithersburg HighHigh · 2,441 students
- Seneca Valley HighHigh · 2,409 students
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase HighHigh · 2,377 students
Other schools in Silver Spring
- Montgomery Blair HighHigh · 3,266 students
- Wheaton HighHigh · 2,794 students
- James Hubert Blake HighHigh · 1,960 students
- John F. Kennedy HighHigh · 1,880 students
- Springbrook HighHigh · 1,838 students
- Takoma Park MiddleMiddle · 1,177 students
Nearby schools
- Calverton Elementary0.8 mi · 767
- JoAnn Leleck at Broad Acres Elementary1.0 mi · 756
- Greencastle Elementary1.2 mi · 722
- High Point High1.5 mi · 3,012
- James E. Duckworth1.6 mi · 99
- Paint Branch High1.6 mi · 2,038
Frequently asked questions
About Galway ElementaryHow large is Galway Elementary?
Galway Elementary enrolls approximately 695 students in grades PK-05.
Is Galway Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Galway Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Galway Elementary?
Approximately 11.3:1 students per teacher at Galway Elementary.
How diverse is Galway Elementary?
Galway Elementary reports a student body of 3% White, 31% Hispanic, 56% Black, 7% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Galway Elementary in?
Galway Elementary is part of Montgomery County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.