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What's the most underrated thing about St. Charles High School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,617
High
DISTRICT 1,348 · STATE 1,185
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHARLES COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240027001727
St. Charles High School
5305 Piney Church Rd, Waldorf, MD 20602 · (301) 753-2090 · Charles County
GRADES 09–12HIGH22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,617 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 6% of Maryland public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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
16.8:1
96 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.0:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
50%
813 students
DISTRICT 51% · 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 | 445 | 28% |
| Grade 10 | 395 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 373 | 23% |
| Grade 12 | 404 | 25% |
Student demographics
46%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
49.1%
MD avg 50.6% . +14.5pp since 2023
Math
10.0%
MD avg 34.8% . -0.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 10 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 15 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.1% | 10.0% |
| 2023-24 | 34.6% | 10.4% |
% 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
26.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.5%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-18.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 26% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 44% 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 St. Charles High School
St. Charles High School's state test result (26.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Charles High School this school | 1,617 | 50.3% | 26.0% |
| Baltimore City College Baltimore | 1,470 | 52.1% | 51.3% |
| Westlake High School Waldorf | 1,216 | 51.2% | 26.6% |
| Gwynn Park High Brandywine | 1,147 | 47.7% | 24.4% |
| Baltimore Polytechnic Institute Baltimore | 1,632 | 47.8% | 62.5% |
| Frederick Douglass High Upper Marlboro | 1,183 | 44.7% | 37.2% |
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 St. Charles High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Charles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 26.0% | #155 of 203 | #5 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.0% | #169 of 206 ▼ 66 | #7 of 7 ▼ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.1% | #137 of 206 ▲ 31 | #4 of 7 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,617 | #63 of 234 | #2 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.8:1 | #133 of 210 | #7 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.8% | #138 of 211 | #6 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 50.3% | #107 of 212 | #4 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +26.2% | #26 of 131 | #2 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
1,617
+225 (+16%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
16.8:1
was 15.6:1
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 | 1,617 | 96 | 16.8:1 | 50% (813) |
| 2023-24 | 1,598 | 88.5 | 18.1:1 | 48% (775) |
| 2022-23 | 1,569 | 89 | 17.6:1 | 48% (750) |
| 2020-21 | 1,392 | 89 | 15.6:1 | 42% (583) |
| 2017-18 | 1,281 | 85 | 15.1:1 | 26% (336) |
| 2015-16 | 1,264 | 85 | 14.9:1 | 33% (414) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for St. Charles High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 26% (1,281 to 1,617); teachers up 13% (85 to 96).
About St. Charles High School
St. Charles High School is a medium-sized high school in Maryland, with an address in Waldorf. The school's enrollment of 1,617 students covers grades 9 through 12. Statewide, high schools in Maryland average about 1,185 students each.
St. Charles High School is one of the 38 schools that make up Charles County Public Schools (28,162 students in total).
St. Charles High School's enrollment is 72% Black. Enrollment also includes 14% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 6% White. Among people living in Charles County, the Black share is about 49%. St. Charles High School has a diversity index of 46%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal data list 96 full-time-equivalent teachers at St. Charles High School in 2024-25, for a ratio of 16.8:1. Among high schools in Maryland, the typical ratio is 15.3:1. The lunch program counts 50% of students at St. Charles High School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is close to the 50% average for public schools in Charles County.
allk12 grades St. Charles High School a D. The grade compares the school only with Maryland public high schools, because each state gives its own test.
Test results at St. Charles High School are 18.4 points below what its student poverty level predicts. The average proficiency rate on state tests is 26.0%, compared with a predicted 44.5%, which ranks in the bottom 10% in Maryland.
Among Charles County residents, median household income is about $122,816, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. St. Charles High School is one of 40 public schools in Charles County, which together enroll about 28,162 students.
Mary B. Neal Elementary School is the closest public school, about 1.3 miles away in a straight line. St. Charles High School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Nearby schools with test data average 33.4% proficiency; St. Charles High School posts 26.0%.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Mid-size, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
The number of students climbed from 1,392 to 1,617 over 4 years. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio rose from 15.6:1 to 16.8:1.
The discussion area below is open to posts about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Charles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
170,527
Census ACS
Median income
$122,816
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
40
28,162 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Charles County Public Schools
- North Point High SchoolHigh · 1,960 students
- Thomas Stone High SchoolHigh · 1,230 students
- La Plata High SchoolHigh · 1,217 students
- Westlake High SchoolHigh · 1,216 students
- Maurice J. McDonough High SchoolHigh · 1,163 students
- Henry E. Lackey High SchoolHigh · 1,033 students
Other schools in Waldorf
- North Point High SchoolHigh · 1,960 students
- Thomas Stone High SchoolHigh · 1,230 students
- Westlake High SchoolHigh · 1,216 students
- Theodore G. Davis Middle SchoolMiddle · 999 students
- Benjamin Stoddert Middle SchoolMiddle · 920 students
- William A. Diggs Elementary SchoolElementary · 876 students
Other St. Charles High schools
One other US public school is named St. Charles High. St. Charles High School is the largest of the 2.
- ST. CHARLES HIGHST CHARLES, MO · 782 students
Nearby schools
- Mary B. Neal Elementary School1.3 mi · 626
- Eva Turner Elementary School1.9 mi · 494
- Dr. Gustavus Brown Elementary1.9 mi · 412
- Benjamin Stoddert Middle School2.4 mi · 920
- Arthur Middleton Elementary School2.5 mi · 774
- La Plata High School2.7 mi · 1,217
Frequently asked questions
About St. Charles High SchoolHow large is St. Charles High School?
St. Charles High School enrolls approximately 1,617 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does St. Charles High School serve?
St. Charles High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at St. Charles High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at St. Charles High School is approximately 16.8:1 (96 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at St. Charles High School?
At St. Charles High School, the student body is approximately 6% White, 14% Hispanic, 72% Black, 2% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is St. Charles High School public or private?
St. Charles High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Charles County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.