Paul Laurence Dunbar High

Located at 1400 Orleans Street, in Baltimore, Maryland, Paul Laurence Dunbar High is a moderately sized secondary school that enrolls 1,087 students (grades 9 through 12), overseen by Baltimore City Public Schools.

Across the 152 schools in Baltimore City Public Schools (76,946 students total), Paul Laurence Dunbar High accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Paul Laurence Dunbar High records that nearly all students (80%) are Black; the rest reads as 17% Hispanic. By comparison, Baltimore city as a whole is about 59% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Paul Laurence Dunbar High records 60 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 18.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.3:1, putting Paul Laurence Dunbar High higher than the state norm the norm. About 78% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Paul Laurence Dunbar High tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 28.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 34.6%.

In the broader community, Baltimore city reports that median household earnings sit near $62,177, roughly 36% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 15%. Across Baltimore city's 156 public schools (combined enrollment of about 77,341 students), Paul Laurence Dunbar High is one campus in the mix.

National Academy Foundation is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Paul Laurence Dunbar High. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Paul Laurence Dunbar High at 1st of 8; the average score across the group is 19.0%.

Paul Laurence Dunbar High operates from a downtown location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged up 34%: 811 students in 2018 compared to 1,087 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 93% to 80% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 20.3:1 in 2018 to 18.1:1 today.

On the community side, members of the Paul Laurence Dunbar High community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.