Stephen Decatur High

Stephen Decatur High operates as a middle-of-the-pack high school in Berlin, Maryland, operated by Worcester County Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 1,462 students spanning grades 9 through 12. Compared to the state average of about 1,185 students per school, that is 23% larger than typical.

Across the 13 schools in Worcester County Public Schools (7,002 students total), Stephen Decatur High accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, Stephen Decatur High reports that 72% of the student body identifies as White; the rest comes out to 10% Hispanic, 9% Black, 8% multiracial.

On the resource side, On paper, Stephen Decatur High has 84 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 17.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.3:1, putting Stephen Decatur High higher than the state norm the norm. About 44% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Stephen Decatur High sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 48.1%; this one delivers 50.5%.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Worcester County) logs that median household earnings sit near $81,745, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Worcester County runs 14 public schools (combined enrollment of about 7,002 students), of which Stephen Decatur High is one.

Nearest neighbor: Stephen Decatur Middle, around 0.3 miles off. Within five miles, there are 5 other public schools. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Stephen Decatur High ranks 6th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 66.5%.

The campus sits in a town-center setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 8%: 1,348 students in 2018 compared to 1,462 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 15.9:1 in 2018 to 17.4:1 today.

On this page, members of the Stephen Decatur High community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.