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What advice would you give to incoming students at Mary H. Matula Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
610
Elementary
DISTRICT 569 · STATE 481
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHARLES COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240027000141
Mary H. Matula Elementary School
6025 Radio Station Rd, La Plata, MD 20646 · (301) 934-5412 · Charles County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL610 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 47% of Maryland public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.0:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
40%
247 students
DISTRICT 51% · 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 | 57 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 86 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 101 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 84 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 91 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 109 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 82 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (86) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (82).
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
58.3%
MD avg 50.6% . +2.3pp since 2023
Math
48.8%
MD avg 34.8% . +15.7pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 49 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 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 16 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 58.3% | 48.8% |
| 2023-24 | 56.0% | 33.1% |
% 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
49.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.3%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% 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 Mary H. Matula Elementary School
Mary H. Matula Elementary School's state test result (49.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary H. Matula Elementary School this school | 610 | 40.5% | 49.0% |
| Monarch Academy Glen Burnie | 687 | 38.0% | 48.7% |
| Dr. James Craik Elementary School Pomfret | 520 | 39.0% | 44.2% |
| Odenton Elementary Odenton | 587 | 44.1% | 44.9% |
| Solley Elementary Glen Burnie | 674 | 39.9% | 47.1% |
| Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle Baltimore | 722 | 40.0% | 64.5% |
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 Mary H. Matula Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Charles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #348 of 853 | #5 of 22 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 48.8% | #312 of 853 ▲ 193 | #4 of 22 ▲ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.3% | #317 of 853 ▼ 28 | #5 of 22 ▼ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 610 | #196 of 898 | #11 of 22 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #512 of 857 | #7 of 22 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.1% | #174 of 857 | #4 of 22 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 40.5% | #614 of 885 | #18 of 22 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.9% | #126 of 551 | #2 of 15 |
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
610
+79 (+15%) vs 2020
-7% since 2000-01, when it was 658
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
was 12.3:1
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 | 610 | 42 | 14.5:1 | 40% (247) |
| 2023-24 | 578 | 41.3 | 14.0:1 | 40% (229) |
| 2022-23 | 551 | 41.2 | 13.4:1 | 36% (201) |
| 2020-21 | 531 | 43 | 12.3:1 | 28% (148) |
| 2017-18 | 781 | 43.4 | 18.0:1 | 28% (215) |
| 2015-16 | 673 | 38 | 17.7:1 | 32% (215) |
| 2010-11 | 490 | 28 | 17.5:1 | 32% (157) |
| 2000-01 | 658 | 36 | 18.3:1 | 31% (203) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mary H. Matula Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 22% (781 to 610); teachers down 3% (43.4 to 42).
About Mary H. Matula Elementary School
The public elementary school Mary H. Matula Elementary School is located in La Plata, Maryland. It is open to students in pre-K through 5 and enrolls 610 students. By comparison, elementary schools in Maryland enroll about 481 students on average.
District-wide, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools and 28,162 students.
No group is above 50% at Mary H. Matula Elementary School; the largest is Black, at 43%. After that, the student body is 30% White, 13% multiracial, 11% Hispanic, and 4% Asian. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 70%.
Mary H. Matula Elementary School lists 42 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 14.5 students per teacher. The average ratio among elementary schools in Maryland is similar, at 13.8:1. About 40% of students at Mary H. Matula Elementary School are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That rate is below the 50% average among public schools in Charles County.
Mary H. Matula Elementary School earns a B- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 47% of Maryland public elementary schools.
Mary H. Matula Elementary School sits between the top and bottom 10% of Maryland schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 49.0% and a predicted 50.3%.
In the surrounding county, Charles County, median household income comes to about $122,816, about 34% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 5%. The county's public schools total 40, with about 28,162 students.
La Plata High School is about 0.3 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Mary H. Matula Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Mary H. Matula Elementary School's average proficiency of 49.0% compares with 37.0% for its nearest scored neighbors.
Mary H. Matula Elementary School is in rural territory close to an urban area, a location NCES labels Rural: Fringe.
By 2024-25, enrollment had risen to 610, from 531 in 2020-21. By 2024-25, the school had 14.5 students per teacher, compared with 12.3 in 2020-21.
People who know Mary H. Matula Elementary School can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Charles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
170,527
Census ACS
Median income
$122,816
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
40
28,162 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Charles County Public Schools
- North Point High SchoolHigh · 1,960 students
- St. Charles High SchoolHigh · 1,617 students
- Thomas Stone High SchoolHigh · 1,230 students
- La Plata High SchoolHigh · 1,217 students
- Westlake High SchoolHigh · 1,216 students
- Maurice J. McDonough High SchoolHigh · 1,163 students
Other schools in La Plata
- La Plata High SchoolHigh · 1,217 students
- Milton M. Somers Middle SchoolMiddle · 671 students
- Walter J. Mitchell Elementary SchoolElementary · 663 students
- Phoenix International School of the ArtsMiddle · 243 students
- F. B. Gwynn Educational CenterElementary
Nearby schools
- La Plata High School0.3 mi · 1,217
- Milton M. Somers Middle School1.9 mi · 671
- Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School2.1 mi · 663
- Phoenix International School of the Arts2.7 mi · 243
- St. Charles High School2.9 mi · 1,617
- Dr. Gustavus Brown Elementary3.8 mi · 412
Frequently asked questions
About Mary H. Matula Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Mary H. Matula Elementary School?
Mary H. Matula Elementary School enrolls approximately 610 students in grades PK-05.
Is Mary H. Matula Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Mary H. Matula Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Mary H. Matula Elementary School have?
Mary H. Matula Elementary School employs 42 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Mary H. Matula Elementary School?
Student demographics at Mary H. Matula Elementary School are roughly 30% White, 11% Hispanic, 43% Black, 4% Asian, 13% Two or more.
What district is Mary H. Matula Elementary School in?
Mary H. Matula Elementary School is part of Charles County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.