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How has Rachel Carson Elementary changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
671
Elementary
DISTRICT 514 · STATE 481
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240048090454
Rachel Carson Elementary
100 Tschiffely Square Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 · (240) 740-1840 · Montgomery County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL671 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 96% of Maryland public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
16.6:1
40 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.9:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
27%
181 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 | 98 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 86 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 115 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 111 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 118 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 109 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (98) is 10% smaller than its 5th grade class (109).
Student demographics
71%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
78.1%
MD avg 50.6% . +0.6pp since 2023
Math
78.9%
MD avg 34.8% . +12.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 78 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 79 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 13 points.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 78.1% | 78.9% |
| 2023-24 | 77.5% | 66.1% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
75.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
58.3%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 58% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 17 points, placing it in Maryland's top 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 Rachel Carson Elementary
Rachel Carson Elementary's state test result (75.2% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Carson Elementary this school | 671 | 27.0% | 75.2% |
| Garrett Park Elementary Kensington | 724 | 24.9% | 61.8% |
| Westchester Elementary Baltimore | 662 | 26.6% | 59.2% |
| Olney Elementary Olney | 585 | 22.4% | 68.4% |
| Mays Chapel Elementary Timonium | 657 | 31.8% | 57.5% |
| Luxmanor Elementary Rockville | 684 | 27.5% | 63.4% |
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 Rachel Carson Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Montgomery County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 75.2% | #56 of 853 | #22 of 131 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 78.9% | #32 of 853 ▲ 86 | #14 of 131 ▲ 27 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 78.1% | #70 of 853 ▼ 5 | #20 of 131 ▲ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 671 | #125 of 898 | #20 of 139 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.6:1 | #770 of 857 | #126 of 136 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.6% | #160 of 857 | #52 of 136 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.0% | #740 of 885 | #100 of 137 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -34.4% | #40 of 551 | #9 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
671
-121 (-15%) vs 2020
+54% since 1990-91, when it was 436
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
was 16.5:1
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 | 671 | 40.3 | 16.6:1 | 27% (181) |
| 2023-24 | 674 | 41.1 | 16.4:1 | 25% (167) |
| 2022-23 | 698 | 40.8 | 17.1:1 | 27% (189) |
| 2020-21 | 792 | 48 | 16.5:1 | 20% (156) |
| 2017-18 | 1,023 | 56.5 | 18.1:1 | 20% (207) |
| 2015-16 | 1,046 | 55 | 19.0:1 | 20% (214) |
| 2010-11 | 872 | 49 | 17.8:1 | 16% (140) |
| 2000-01 | 760 | 44 | 17.3:1 | 25% (193) |
| 1990-91 | 436 | 28 | 15.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Rachel Carson Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 34% (1,023 to 671); teachers down 29% (56.5 to 40.3).
About Rachel Carson Elementary
Gaithersburg, Maryland, is home to Rachel Carson Elementary, a medium-sized elementary school. It covers pre-K through 5, with a total enrollment of 671 students. Statewide, elementary schools in Maryland average about 481 students each.
Montgomery County Public Schools counts 159,181 students in its 208 schools, and Rachel Carson Elementary is one of them.
White students form the largest group at Rachel Carson Elementary, 45% of enrollment. Other groups include 23% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 8% Black, and 8% multiracial. The county population is about 42% White, within a few points of the school. The chance that two students picked at random at Rachel Carson Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 71%.
The count of teachers at Rachel Carson Elementary is 40.3 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 16.6:1. Among elementary schools in Maryland, the typical ratio is 13.8:1. The school counts 181 students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, or 27%. On average, public schools in Montgomery County report 40%.
allk12 grades Rachel Carson Elementary an A+. The grade compares the school only with Maryland public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Rachel Carson Elementary beats its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests by 16.9 points (75.2% versus 58.3%), a top-10% result in Maryland on BeatsExpectations.
Rachel Carson Elementary is located in Montgomery County, where median household income is about $132,450, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 61%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Rachel Carson Elementary is one of 211 public schools in Montgomery County, which together enroll about 159,181 students.
The next-closest public school is Quince Orchard High, about 0.4 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Nearby schools average 55.3% on proficiency, and Rachel Carson Elementary is above that at 75.2%.
The school is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000, according to its NCES locale (City: Small).
The number of students declined from 792 to 671 over 4 years.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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 Gaithersburg
- Gaithersburg HighHigh · 2,441 students
- Quince Orchard HighHigh · 2,100 students
- Watkins Mill HighHigh · 1,577 students
- Lakelands Park MiddleMiddle · 993 students
- Gaithersburg MiddleMiddle · 869 students
- Forest Oak MiddleMiddle · 828 students
Other Rachel Carson Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Rachel Carson Elementary. Rachel Carson Elementary is the largest of the 3.
- Rachel Carson ElementarySammamish, WA · 486 students
- Rachel Carson ElementarySan Jose, CA · 199 students
Nearby schools
- Quince Orchard High0.4 mi · 2,100
- Ridgeview Middle0.8 mi · 722
- Lakelands Park Middle0.8 mi · 993
- Thurgood Marshall Elementary1.0 mi · 553
- DuFief Elementary1.2 mi · 276
- Diamond Elementary1.4 mi · 654
Frequently asked questions
About Rachel Carson ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Rachel Carson Elementary?
Rachel Carson Elementary enrolls approximately 671 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Rachel Carson Elementary serve?
Rachel Carson Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Rachel Carson Elementary?
Approximately 16.6:1 students per teacher at Rachel Carson Elementary.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Rachel Carson Elementary?
At Rachel Carson Elementary, the student body is approximately 45% White, 23% Hispanic, 8% Black, 16% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Rachel Carson Elementary in?
Rachel Carson Elementary is part of Montgomery County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.