Shady Side Elementary

Shady Side Elementary operates as an intimate primary school in Shady Side, Maryland, one of the schools within Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 391 students spanning grades pre-K through 5.

Across the 125 schools in Anne Arundel County Public Schools (85,029 students total), Shady Side Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, Shady Side Elementary records that White students make up the majority at 79%; the rest reads as 8% Hispanic, 6% Black, 6% multiracial. That is meaningfully more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 63%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school reports having 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.3:1. That tracks the state average closely. Around 28% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Anne Arundel County (around 42%), the school's rate is somewhat below typical.

With demographic context factored in, Shady Side Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 57.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 46.6%.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Anne Arundel County) shows that median household income runs about $124,911, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. Across Anne Arundel County's 129 public schools (combined enrollment of about 85,074 students), Shady Side Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Carrie Weedon Early Education Center is the nearest neighboring public school, about 2.4 miles from this campus. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Shady Side Elementary comes 5th of 8 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 51.8%.

Shady Side Elementary operates from a small-town location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Shady Side Elementary has decreased 22%, going from 500 students in 2018 to 391 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 2% to 8% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 16.6:1 in 2018 to 14.3:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.