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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HOWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240042001700

Lake Elkhorn Middle

6680 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045 · (410) 313-7600 · Howard County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL569 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 20% of Maryland public middle schools
  • C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • DBeats 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 middle schools

Enrollment
569
Middle
DISTRICT 663 · STATE 764
Student : Teacher
12.2:1
47 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.0:1 · STATE 14.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
49%
279 students
DISTRICT 29% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Grade 618232%
Grade 718032%
Grade 820736%
Student demographics
68%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 77% · STATE 73% · US 70%
White
8916%
DISTRICT 29% · STATE 31% · US 43%
Hispanic
12923%
DISTRICT 14% · STATE 24% · US 30%
Black
27248%
DISTRICT 25% · STATE 32% · US 15%
Asian
326%
DISTRICT 24% · STATE 7% · US 6%
Two+
448%
DISTRICT 7% · STATE 5% · US 5%
Native American
10%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 1%
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
Male
27348%
Female
29452%

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Test scores

MCAP 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 3-4)
English Language Arts
36.8%
MD avg 50.6% . -6.4pp since 2023
Math
23.1%
MD avg 34.8% . +6.5pp since 2023

What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 23 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 6 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 7 points.

MCAP results by year

School yearEnglish Language ArtsMath
2024-2536.8%23.1%
2023-2443.2%16.6%
% 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 · methodology
Tier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
29.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.2%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.3pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 30% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 45% 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 Lake Elkhorn Middle

Lake Elkhorn Middle's state test result (29.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Lake Elkhorn Middle this school56949.0%29.9%
Harpers Choice Middle
Columbia
47146.9%35.4%
Benjamin Banneker Middle
Burtonsville
70551.9%27.5%
Matthew Henson Middle School
Indian Head
70148.5%28.8%
Milton M. Somers Middle School
La Plata
67143.2%40.3%
Samuel Ogle Middle
Bowie
80655.3%35.5%
Matched among Maryland middle 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 Lake Elkhorn Middle ranks

Among middle schools
MeasureThis schoolIn MarylandIn Howard County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
29.9%#143 of 223#19 of 20
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
23.1%#118 of 223
▲ 23
#19 of 20
▲ 1
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
36.8%#178 of 223
▼ 42
#20 of 20
▼ 2
Enrollment
ranked largest first
569#182 of 230#17 of 20
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
12.2:1#27 of 225#3 of 20
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
68.4%#72 of 225#16 of 20
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
49.0%#120 of 227#1 of 20
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked fastest growth first
+4.0%#65 of 95#7 of 10
Ranked against other public middle 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 2024-25
Enrollment
569
-31 (-5%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
12.2:1
was 12.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-2556946.612.2:149% (279)
2023-2462246.113.5:151% (317)
2022-2359848.212.4:154% (323)
2020-216004712.8:144% (264)
2017-185474711.6:142% (231)
2015-164904411.1:145% (220)
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Lake Elkhorn Middle.

Since 2017-18: students up 4% (547 to 569); teachers down 1% (47 to 46.6).

About Lake Elkhorn Middle

Lake Elkhorn Middle is a small middle-grades school in Maryland, located in Columbia. It serves 569 students in grades 6 through 8. For comparison, middle schools in Maryland average about 764 students.

Howard County Public Schools is responsible for 77 schools, Lake Elkhorn Middle included, with 57,565 students in all.

Federal enrollment data show Black students as the largest group at Lake Elkhorn Middle, at 48%. Other groups include 23% Hispanic, 16% White, 8% multiracial, and 6% Asian. By comparison, Howard County residents are about 20% Black. Pick two students at random and there is a 68% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.

Lake Elkhorn Middle counts 46.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 12.2 students for each one. This ratio sits 2.1 below the 14.3:1 average for middle schools in Maryland. About 49% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. Among public schools in Howard County, the average eligibility rate is 27%.

allk12 grades Lake Elkhorn Middle a C-. The grade compares the school only with Maryland public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.

Lake Elkhorn Middle falls short of its prediction by 15.3 points. The model expects 45.2% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Maryland; the school's rate is 29.9%.

In Howard County (population about 336,328), the median household income is $149,763, roughly 65% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 4%. There are 78 public schools in Howard County, enrolling about 57,565 students in all.

Nearest public school: Cradlerock Elementary, less than a tenth of a mile away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Lake Elkhorn Middle is 9th of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.

The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Mid-size: inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.

Federal data show a 5% enrollment decrease, from 600 in 2020-21 to 569 in 2024-25.

Discussions about Lake Elkhorn Middle may include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.

Howard County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
336,328
Census ACS
Median income
$149,763
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
65%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
78
57,565 students

Quick facts

School name
Lake Elkhorn Middle
District
Howard County Public Schools
Address
6680 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045
Phone
(410) 313-7600
County
Howard County
Level
Middle
Grade range
06–08
Total enrollment
569
Teachers (FTE)
47
Student–teacher ratio
12.2:1
Free and reduced lunch
279 (49%)
Locale
12-City: Mid-size
NCES ID
240042001700
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Howard County Public Schools
Other schools in Columbia
Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Lake Elkhorn Middle
What is the total enrollment at Lake Elkhorn Middle?
Lake Elkhorn Middle enrolls approximately 569 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Lake Elkhorn Middle serve?
Lake Elkhorn Middle serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Lake Elkhorn Middle?
Approximately 12.2:1 students per teacher at Lake Elkhorn Middle.
How diverse is Lake Elkhorn Middle?
Lake Elkhorn Middle reports a student body of 16% White, 23% Hispanic, 48% Black, 6% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Lake Elkhorn Middle?
Lake Elkhorn Middle is overseen by Howard County Public Schools in Howard County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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