Salem Avenue Elementary

As a medium-sized elementary school in Hagerstown, Maryland, Salem Avenue Elementary caters to 713 students from grades pre-K through 5, overseen by Washington County Public Schools. That puts it 48% bigger than the typical public school in Maryland, which averages around 481 students.

Washington County Public Schools comprises 43 schools with combined enrollment of 23,320 students; Salem Avenue Elementary is among them.

On the student-mix side, Salem Avenue Elementary shows that 33% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 26% Hispanic, 21% Black, 18% multiracial. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 75%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school currently runs with 50 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.2:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 83% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Washington County runs at roughly 58%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Salem Avenue Elementary sits in the top 10% of Maryland schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 25.1%; actual is 43.0%, +17.9 points clear of the demographic baseline.

In the area at large, census data for Washington County shows median household earnings sit near $77,747, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Washington County's 44 public schools (combined enrollment of about 23,320 students), Salem Avenue Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Marshall Street School, around 0.5 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Salem Avenue Elementary comes 3rd of 7 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 44.6%.

The school occupies a downtown site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked up 7%: 668 students in 2018 compared to 713 in 2025. The White share of enrollment edged down from 47% to 33% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.5:1 in 2018 to 14.2:1 in 2025.

On the community side, members of the Salem Avenue Elementary community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.