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What's one thing Northwest High gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,300
High
DISTRICT 2,003 · STATE 1,185
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048001040
Northwest High
13501 Richter Farm Rd, Germantown, MD 20874 · (240) 740-7100 · Montgomery County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL2,300 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 53% of Maryland public high 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
138 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
831 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 | 591 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 559 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 580 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 570 | 25% |
Student demographics
77%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
71.7%
MD avg 50.6% . +7.4pp since 2023
Math
12.8%
MD avg 34.8% . +2.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 72 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 13 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 71.7% | 12.8% |
| 2023-24 | 64.3% | 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
39.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.8%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 53% 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 Northwest High
Northwest High's state test result (39.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest High this school | 2,300 | 36.1% | 39.7% |
| Clarksburg High Clarksburg | 2,241 | 36.9% | 40.8% |
| Richard Montgomery High Rockville | 2,366 | 29.3% | 40.3% |
| Reservoir High Fulton | 1,597 | 26.2% | 43.2% |
| Dulaney High Timonium | 1,889 | 33.2% | 36.8% |
| Catonsville High Baltimore | 1,735 | 40.7% | 41.2% |
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 Northwest High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.7% | #76 of 203 | #11 of 25 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.8% | #81 of 206 ▲ 95 | #9 of 25 ▲ 12 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.7% | #59 of 206 ▲ 13 | #9 of 25 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,300 | #15 of 234 | #8 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.7:1 | #126 of 210 | #16 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 77.3% | #1 of 211 | #1 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 36.1% | #155 of 212 | #16 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.3% | #29 of 76 | #3 of 7 |
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
2,300
-298 (-11%) vs 2020
+65% since 2000-01, when it was 1,394
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
was 17.3:1
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 | 2,300 | 137.6 | 16.7:1 | 36% (831) |
| 2023-24 | 2,386 | 144 | 16.6:1 | 34% (817) |
| 2022-23 | 2,484 | 144.8 | 17.1:1 | 39% (972) |
| 2020-21 | 2,598 | 150 | 17.3:1 | 27% (702) |
| 2017-18 | 2,508 | 140.8 | 17.8:1 | 23% (572) |
| 2015-16 | 2,255 | 123 | 18.3:1 | 26% (586) |
| 2010-11 | 2,097 | 116 | 18.1:1 | 23% (489) |
| 2000-01 | 1,394 | 80 | 17.4:1 | 8% (118) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwest High.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (2,508 to 2,300); teachers down 2% (140.8 to 137.6).
About Northwest High
Northwest High is a large high school in Montgomery County Public Schools, located in Germantown, Maryland. Total enrollment is 2,300 students, and the grades served are 9 through 12. It has 94% more students than the average for high schools in Maryland (about 1,185).
Enrollment across the 208 schools in Montgomery County Public Schools totals 159,181 students.
Black students account for 26% of enrollment at Northwest High, more than any other group. Other students are 26% Hispanic, 21% White, 20% Asian, and 6% multiracial. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Northwest High scores 77%.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 16.7:1. The school has 137.6 full-time-equivalent teachers. By comparison, the average for high schools in Maryland is 15.3:1. In all, 36% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Northwest High 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 53% of Maryland public high schools.
Schools in Maryland with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to post an average proficiency rate across its state test results near 52.8%. Northwest High posts 39.7%, 13.1 points below that, which places it in the bottom 10% statewide on BeatsExpectations.
In Montgomery County, where the school is located, median household income comes to about $132,450, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 61%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. The county has 211 public schools and about 159,181 students.
Among nearby public schools, Great Seneca Creek Elementary is closest at about 0.5 miles. Northwest High is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. The nearest schools with test data average 48.6%, higher than Northwest High's 39.7%.
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.
An 11% decrease took enrollment from 2,598 in 2020-21 to 2,300 in 2024-25.
On allk12, people connected to Northwest High can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 Germantown
- Seneca Valley HighHigh · 2,409 students
- Kingsview MiddleMiddle · 908 students
- Roberto W. Clemente MiddleMiddle · 888 students
- Martin Luther King Jr. MiddleMiddle · 841 students
- Neelsville MiddleMiddle · 781 students
- Waters Landing ElementaryElementary · 735 students
Other Northwest High schools
15 other US public schools in 11 states are named Northwest High. Northwest High is the 2nd largest of the 16.
- Northwest High SchoolJUSTIN, TX · 2,672 students
- Northwest High SchoolFlowood, MS · 1,855 students
- NORTHWEST HIGHCEDAR HILL, MO · 1,788 students
- Northwest High SchoolWaukee, IA · 1,574 students
- NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOLOMAHA, NE · 1,517 students
Nearby schools
- Great Seneca Creek Elementary0.5 mi · 487
- Spark M. Matsunaga Elementary0.7 mi · 530
- Longview School0.7 mi · 59
- Kingsview Middle1.0 mi · 908
- Clopper Mill Elementary1.1 mi · 458
- Germantown Elementary1.3 mi · 314
Frequently asked questions
About Northwest HighWhat is the total enrollment at Northwest High?
Northwest High enrolls approximately 2,300 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Northwest High serve?
Northwest High serves grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Northwest High have?
Northwest High employs 138 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Northwest High?
Student demographics at Northwest High are roughly 21% White, 26% Hispanic, 26% Black, 20% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is Northwest High in?
Northwest High is part of Montgomery County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.